Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Photoshop Gone Wild

Last November, there was considerable controversy over an Asbury Park Press photo illustration of the Governor Corzine’s asset monetization plan. Now a photo illustration on the cover of Golfweek magazine has cost the publication’s editor his job.

According to the New York Times, the cover image included “a noose for an article about Gold Channel host Kelly Tilhgman’s use of the word ‘lynch’ to describe how young players could challenge Tiger Woods.”

Although there was internal debate at Golfweek about the cover, the magazine has no African-Americans on its staff.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is one of those things where I could lean either way. Did he deserve to be fired? I mean, the entire point of the cover was to point out the comment was racist. Is highlighting racism a form of racism in and of itself?

Richard A. Lee said...

Good point. I don't believe the editor's intentions were racist, but in today's politically correct environment, all of us (editors included) need to be aware of how our words and actions will be perceived, even if those perceptions differ from our intentions.