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Photo of Palestinian Mother Was the Wrong Choice


(New York Times) Margaret Sullivan - Hundreds of readers wrote to me in recent days to protest the prominent use of a photograph that accompanied an article in the Times last Thursday. The photograph was an emotional and sympathetic portrait of a distraught Palestinian woman, whose son had killed an unsuspecting young Israeli soldier on a public bus. It was a poor choice, failing to put the focus where it belonged. Freya Morrison of Toronto wrote: "Using a photo of the murderer's mother to represent the item regarding the fatal stabbing of Eden Atias is the epitome of slanted journalism and bad taste. Let's get it straight. The Israeli soldier is the victim here. How dare you make it appear otherwise?" The selection of the Palestinian mother's image with the article was an effort to achieve balance, but such an effort was not appropriate in this case, said Michele McNally, the assistant managing editor in charge of photography. The foreign editor, Joseph Kahn, told me, "We don't always get it right." The prominent use of this photograph was a case of getting it wrong. The writer is the public editor appointed by the New York Times.
2013-11-20 00:00:00
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