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Is this photo offensive?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by MTM, Jul 3, 2009.

  1. Sp0rtScribe

    Sp0rtScribe Member

    I don't think the picture is offensive at all, unless, as someone said before, it was staged. But I think it's fine, and those concerned should really lighten up. Nothing was intentional, or atleast hoped not, and it was a good shot.
     
  2. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Unless this was the photo, I have no problem with it.

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
  3. fishwrapper

    fishwrapper Active Member

    What about this ad?

    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Dec 15, 2014
  4. OnTheRiver

    OnTheRiver Active Member

    Not even remotely offensive.
     
  5. mustangj17

    mustangj17 Active Member

    No way this is offensive.

    Although, how many times have we seen something incredibly offensive (Noose on the cover of the golf magazine) and wondered how the hell someone thought that was a good idea?
     
  6. jackfinarelli

    jackfinarelli Well-Known Member

    The photo ought not be offensive to anyone.

    Having said that, someone somewhere will take offense.
     
  7. HejiraHenry

    HejiraHenry Well-Known Member

    Glad I do not work in a newsroom where this sort of question would come up.

    Swear to G-d, I thought it was gonna be the spread-eagled Serena picture from earlier in the week.
     
  8. lmcmillan33

    lmcmillan33 Member

    It would be offensive if you intentially did not run the best picture just because of the stereotype.
     
  9. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    Cutline says he's 11, you say he's seven. Let's hope you were the one wrong.
     
  10. TheMethod

    TheMethod Member

    Sheez. Is this really what it's come to? Now we can't depict the truth because it happens to align with a (harmless) stereotype?

    The greater journalistic sin would be to not run something just because it depicts an uncomfortable reality. As I said, I don't see why this specific photo should be uncomfortable, but I'm speaking in broad terms now.
     
  11. Mizzougrad96

    Mizzougrad96 Active Member

    Several years ago, I did a Thanksgiving piece on a defensive lineman I was covering. They were having their Thanksgving a week early since the team was playing on Thanksgiving that year. Our cover art was him holding a turkey leg.

    We got about 50 calls that the photo was racist.

    People are stupid.
     
  12. Frank_Ridgeway

    Frank_Ridgeway Well-Known Member

    A straight answer is that it isn't decided by a popular vote in the newsroom. The person calling the shots on the desk will either have a sense of his/her boss' sensibilities or pass the buck and have the top editor make the call. I know for sure there are situations in which I wouldn't have run it, and in the situations in which I might have, I have to ask myself what are the benefits of running it besides the opportunity to demonstrate I'm allowed to make that decision? Not running it isn't exactly depriving the public of news -- the photo is purely ornamental. For that reason, I don't think it's worth it.

    These things really vary by newspaper, anyway. In the 1980s, UPI sent a photo of an auto-racing crewman on fire. They didn't move it in color -- most photos were sent only in black-and-white at the time. I showed it to the SE and I ran it two columns on bottom of the cover -- the lead art was much larger and in color. Next morning, the top editor was all over my boss' ass about it being in poor taste. I still thought we made the right call, however, and included the page in a portfolio of layouts when I applied somewhere else. At the interview, the SE holds up that page and says, "You really blew the call on this one. We killed color and ran it four columns as the lead art."

    It's a subjective choice. If I decided not to run the photo in question, I really would not care about the opinions of those who would not bear responsibility the next morning, in the sense of them deciding that the wrong reasons motivated my choice. You can't edit effectively that way.
     
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