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Topic: Letters Sent to Romenesko
Date/Time: 9/2/2005 7:07:00 PM
Title: Looting or taking? Let the readers decide
Posted By: Jim Romenesko
 
From RANDOLPH D. BRANDT, editor, Journal Times (Racine, Wis.): I've instructed our news desk to change references to '"looting" in picture captions to "taking,"and let readers draw their own conclusion from the context. I can't know whether somebody taking battery-powered tools from a ruined hardware store is "looting" or trying to find something he can use to get grandma out of the attic or fix his boat.

We're not there. We can't really judge.

In a flooded city that's been without largely supplies for a week, "looting"
could very well mean survival. We've seen a lot of photos of young men taking clothing from stores, but I'd imagine a fresh shirt for somebody who's been swimming in sewage for days could mean the difference between sickness and health.

It's certainly not unusual in history for conniving young men to become the supply agents for a larger community in instances where civilization breaks down. The tunnel rats of the Warsaw ghetto or the young "thieves" of Stalingrad who went so far as to trade with the enemy to keep people alive are just a couple examples.

If it were me in a situation like that, I think the first thing I'd do is look for a pharmacy, break in and get some antibiotics. I'd be protecting myself and anybody I might otherwise infect with some water-borne pathogen in the days and weeks ahead.

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