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...not a penis. That is all.
The above AP photo (minus the red highlighting) was used by the Biloxi Sun-Herald as their headline photo for yesterday's tragic events. Some people, blinded by grief or stupidity or both, thought this was pornography. Or possibly an advertisement for a product that gives you a penis the size of a horse's and makes it grow out of the back of your leg ... morons.
Here's the editor's response:
Edit: Since Wesley whined about it...
The above AP photo (minus the red highlighting) was used by the Biloxi Sun-Herald as their headline photo for yesterday's tragic events. Some people, blinded by grief or stupidity or both, thought this was pornography. Or possibly an advertisement for a product that gives you a penis the size of a horse's and makes it grow out of the back of your leg ... morons.
Here's the editor's response:
Biloxi Sun-Herald's editor's response to the complaints he received about putting that photo on his front page:
The photograph of an unidentified victim of the Virginia Tech shooting rampage who is being carried out of Norris Hall Monday by police officers, has raised questions from readers who saw the photo on the front page of Tuesday's Sun Herald. Several have inquired about the condition of the young man. Others have called voicing the concern that a private part of the man's anatomy is shown in the photograph.
Sun Herald editors selected the photograph to be the dominant image on our front page because it showed the gripping drama that occurred on the Virginia Tech campus Monday in its most human terms. We believe the photo represents the best of photojournalism, a moment in time recorded forever of people responding to the event where the evil actions of one man claimed the greatest death toll of any shooting spree in U.S. history. There were many good photographs taken Monday, but in our judgment this was the best. The photo, taken by Alan Kim, a staff photographer from the Roanoke Times and distributed by The Associated Press, has been widely shown by news organizations around the globe, on television and in newspapers and websites.
Our "cutline," the information describing the photograph, was limited, because the circumstances would not allow the photographer to gather information relating to the victim's identification or his condition, given the dynamic moment in which the picture was taken.
In response to reader concerns I called Kathleen Carroll, a Mississippi native who is the Associated Press Executive Editor, to see if she could answer their questions. As of about 1 p.m. EDT Carroll did not know the name of the man in the photo, or his condition.
The AP is seeking to determine this information, and we will post those facts as soon as they are available. As to the matter of the possibility that the man's genitalia has been shown in the photo, Carroll said she did not believe that was the case.
"We looked really closely and don't think it is that. We looked at the photo with the most sophisticated equipment and we don't think it is genitalia. We believe it could be a tourniquet or a piece of clothing." She told me that had the AP thought it was genitalia it would have flagged the photo in a way that would have alerted editors so they could have factored this into their decision to publish the image or not. Carroll characterized the photo as "an enormously important image as it shows the dreadful consequences of the gunman."
We agree on the importance of the photo, and we agree the part of the photo that some have taken to be genitalia is not.
- Stan Tiner
- Executive Editor
The photograph of an unidentified victim of the Virginia Tech shooting rampage who is being carried out of Norris Hall Monday by police officers, has raised questions from readers who saw the photo on the front page of Tuesday's Sun Herald. Several have inquired about the condition of the young man. Others have called voicing the concern that a private part of the man's anatomy is shown in the photograph.
Sun Herald editors selected the photograph to be the dominant image on our front page because it showed the gripping drama that occurred on the Virginia Tech campus Monday in its most human terms. We believe the photo represents the best of photojournalism, a moment in time recorded forever of people responding to the event where the evil actions of one man claimed the greatest death toll of any shooting spree in U.S. history. There were many good photographs taken Monday, but in our judgment this was the best. The photo, taken by Alan Kim, a staff photographer from the Roanoke Times and distributed by The Associated Press, has been widely shown by news organizations around the globe, on television and in newspapers and websites.
Our "cutline," the information describing the photograph, was limited, because the circumstances would not allow the photographer to gather information relating to the victim's identification or his condition, given the dynamic moment in which the picture was taken.
In response to reader concerns I called Kathleen Carroll, a Mississippi native who is the Associated Press Executive Editor, to see if she could answer their questions. As of about 1 p.m. EDT Carroll did not know the name of the man in the photo, or his condition.
The AP is seeking to determine this information, and we will post those facts as soon as they are available. As to the matter of the possibility that the man's genitalia has been shown in the photo, Carroll said she did not believe that was the case.
"We looked really closely and don't think it is that. We looked at the photo with the most sophisticated equipment and we don't think it is genitalia. We believe it could be a tourniquet or a piece of clothing." She told me that had the AP thought it was genitalia it would have flagged the photo in a way that would have alerted editors so they could have factored this into their decision to publish the image or not. Carroll characterized the photo as "an enormously important image as it shows the dreadful consequences of the gunman."
We agree on the importance of the photo, and we agree the part of the photo that some have taken to be genitalia is not.
- Stan Tiner
- Executive Editor
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