BY DAN
KENNEDY
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Thursday, May 13, 2004
THEY KNEW. BUT THEY PRINTED IT
ANYWAY. That's the only interpretation I can put on an
"Editor's
Note" in today's Boston
Globe apologizing for the publication
of a photo showing pornographic depictions of rape. Here's the
note:
A photograph on Page B2
yesterday did not meet Globe standards for publication. The photo
portrayed Boston City Councilor Chuck Turner and activist Sadiki
Kambon displaying graphic photographs that they claimed showed US
soldiers raping Iraqi women. Although the photograph was
reduced in size between editions to obscure visibility of the
images on display, at no time did the photograph meet Globe
standards. Images contained in the photograph were overly graphic,
and the purported abuse portrayed had not been authenticated. The
Globe apologizes for publishing the photo.
In other words, at some point
editors realized the pictures that Turner and Kambon were showing off
were too graphic to be published - but rather than remove the photo
altogether, they simply shrunk it down and hoped no one would
notice.
This isn't good. For crying out
loud, this is a paper that killed
Doonesbury a couple
of weeks ago because B.D. shouted out "son of a bitch!" after he
learned that his leg had been blown off. What are these people
thinking?
I do believe it's ombudsman
Christine Chinlund's week to write this coming Monday.
Meanwhile, the Boston Herald
is having fun with this today. Inevitably, the tabloid
reports
that the Globe is "reeling" from the mistake (how does
one reel?), and points out that the photos obtained by Kambon had
already been exposed by the website WorldNetDaily.com
as porn shots being passed off as evidence of American atrocities.
The Herald quotes a statement from Globe editor Martin
Baron:
"This photo should not
have appeared in the Globe," editor Martin Baron said in a
statement. "First, images portrayed in the photo were overly
graphic. Second, as the story clearly pointed out, those images
were never authenticated as photos of prisoner abuse. There was a
lapse in judgment and procedures, and we apologize for it."
The story also recycles some of
Globe reporter Donovan Slack's very candid quotes to
WorldNetDaily.
An unusually long Herald
editorial,
headlined "Prouder Than Ever to Be an American," includes this swipe:
"It's a nation where that daughter puts herself in harm's way to
protect the freedom of the press which allows Boston Globe editors to
run bogus photographs of American soldiers raping Iraqi
women."
Not a proud moment for the folks on
Morrissey Boulevard.
posted at 7:38 AM |
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MEDIA LOG ARCHIVES
Dan Kennedy is senior writer and media critic for the Boston Phoenix.
