Who You Calling Narcissistic?
The story discusses a new study that finds "rising narcissism" and self-centeredness among the nation's college students. Fair enough. What struck me was the pair of pictures accompanying the story – one of four young women on spring break in Cancun, and the other of a pair of University of Kansas students with their upper bodies painted with the letters "K" and "U."
These are college students, yes, so it's not shocking that CBSNews.com chose to run their pictures. But I don't know how pleased I would be to be pictured accompanying a story on self-centeredness and narcissism. Isn't that a little unfair to the students?
I asked Mike Sims, CBSNews.com news and operations director, for a comment.
"I had asked that the picture [of the KU students] be removed, even before our esteemed colleagues at Public Eye brought it to our attention," said Sims. "We don't want to give even the impression that the particular people pictured are the subject of the story. My suggestion was that the picture be more generic."
The picture of the KU students has since been taken down, but, as of this posting, the spring break picture – which I admit does emit a whiff of self-centeredness – remains.