All Blog Posts from Public Eye

In Advertising Age, Simon Dumenco argues that "[w]e've come to the point at which murderous psychopaths and TV news executives are of the same mind when it comes to human tragedy: It's a branding opportunity."

For evidence, Dumenco points to the graphics used in coverage of the Virginia Tech tragedy. He criticizes CBS and other networks for their choices but reserves the most scorn for CNN, writing that the network's "animated MASSACRE AT VIRGINIA TECH logo throbbed and twirled with all the subtlety of an 'American Idol' bumper."

There's no denying that the graphics used by the networks sometimes seemed obscene – did we really need dramatic fonts and graphics of gun sights to convey the enormity of this tragedy? It's rather depressing to think that news outlets felt they needed these kinds of bells and whistles to draw viewers in; one would like to think the horrible reality of the situation, minus the graphical theatrics, would have been enough.

Another aspect of this is the words news outlets used to describe what happened. As I noted last week, CBS News opted to switch from the word "massacre" to "tragedy" to describe the shootings. I think that was the right call: "Massacre" is not an inaccurate word, but there is something salacious about it. And the switch to "tragedy" seemed appropriate as the story evolved from one focused on the actions of the shooter to one focused on the response of the community.

On television, when a news broadcast is about to show a graphic image on the air, the anchor typically prefaces the appearance with a warning – “The image you are about to see is graphic and may not be appropriate for younger viewers,” – or something like that. When showing such images on news Web sites, however, there isn’t really an established protocol.

I wondered about this when I logged on to CBSNews.com last night, and saw the photo above posted prominently with the top story on the homepage – essentially the first thing a reader would see on the site. It’s believed to be an image of the body of Khamis Hameed al-Obeidi, a lawyer who represented Saddam Hussein, who was killed yesterday in Baghdad. At TVNewser, blogger Brian Stelter noticed the photo as well: “This was the graphic photo at the top of CBSNews.com Wednesday evening,” he wrote, asking, “Are the networks beginning to show more gore from Iraq?”

I’m not sure that CBSNews.com posting the photo says anything about networks showing more gore from Iraq, but it does raise some questions about how news Web sites handle this kind of content.

According to Michael Sims, director of news and operations for CBSNews.com, the photo was in the lead position on the homepage for about three hours last night starting at about or shortly after 6:30 p.m.

“Our evening team debated use of the photo (as we do all graphic images) and decided that it was not inappropriate for the home page,” Sims told me in an e-mail.

“In general, we ask that our editors be sensitive about graphic photos that hit a user without the user being forewarned,” wrote Sims. “We don't want to sugarcoat the news, but we also don't want to offend our audience, driving them to skip an important story entirely.”

There are obviously a lot of editorial judgment issues at play here. News of al-Obeidi’s death – which was brutal, he was “found riddled with bullets on a street” according to CBSNews.com – was a notable story. Given the nature of his death, the photo is certainly part of that story. Considering that, would not including the photo prominently have diminished the story’s impact? At the same time, however, if on television there is typically a warning about such images, should news on the Web follow the same rules?

Read full post…

We were curious about the graphics featured on CBSNews.com, so we approached James Morris, a senior designer on the site, to give us a little insight into the thinking that goes into their creation. James was kind enough to write a piece for us about the challenges, politics and ethical considerations that go into crafting images for CBSNews.com. It's a refreshingly honest peek into the decisions that go into creating the graphics that show up on the site. Here's James:

The Politics Of Photoediting:

We use common sense and often work with news editors to tailor images to a given story. We don't go out of our way to achieve balance in the images we select, but it is something that we consider. (The site's editors are responsible for keeping an eye on issues of balance and looking at the editorial impact of the images used.) If there is a 500,000 person protest, and a 40 person counter-protest, we will make sure to throw in a photo from the smaller event, while giving major play to the larger. One of the great benefits of working on the Web is that space is unlimited. If there is conflict between which of two images is most appropriate, we just publish both.

Personal tendencies do come into play at times. During the first weeks of US operations in Iraq, I noticed that I had tended toward publishing fairly graphic images such as dead bodies and burned cars, where as other designers seemed to favor more editorial or artistically powerful images: Marines carrying babies, apache helicopters in the sunset. Obviously, we are often at the mercy of the image feeds we use, but there is inevitably a personal dimension to the process.

Photoillustrating:

We never doctor a news photo. However, when it comes to photo-illustrating - collages or 'generics' as we call them - we will often digitally manipulate images to emphasize a certain mood.

Sometimes we miss the mark. When Israeli troops had surrounded Arafat and cut power to his compound, I created an image that tried to articulate a man who was cornered and trapped. We received complaints that Arafat was portrayed as being "sinister," and although this was never the intent, it was certainly a valid criticism. We pulled the image.

We have also discontinued the practice of superimposing explosions, fire, bombs or crosshairs over flags after receiving complaints about desecration.





Obituaries:

This is very sensitive turf for journalists. It is common practice to prepare our obituary graphics in advance, especially if the subject has been ill for some time.

These images typically feature a dual image, with a recent photo of the person in the foreground, and an image of them as a young man/woman in the back. Like a good funeral director, we always try and present the deceased in a flattering and respectful way, regardless of who they are.

Read full post…

Read full post…