# How is it determined what photo of a person the press will run? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 31, 2012, 12:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-determined-what-photo-of-a-person-the-press-will-run/617372 "2012-03-31T12:01:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 8:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-determined-what-photo-of-a-person-the-press-will-run/617372/41 "2012-04-01T08:45:09Z")
> [@Dufus](#): > > I’m guessing that the **editor** would have a vested interest in selling as many papers as possible? > > And would know what the average reader wants? And will know how to squeeze every penny out of them? I was replying to a post made by **Terr** , who asserted it was the journalist’s responsibility to be tracking down illustrations for the story they were writing, rather than providing comment on what an editor might be thinking when deciding which of the acquired images to use, FWIW. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-determined-what-photo-of-a-person-the-press-will-run/617372/42 "2012-04-01T09:39:58Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Even if the first photo you come across is a high school yearbook photo (or a baby picture) of someone who’s pushing fifty? ISTR that when Tad Kaczynski was first arrested, the first pictures of him that ran on the news were his college yearbook photos from the '60s. ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 11:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-determined-what-photo-of-a-person-the-press-will-run/617372/43 "2012-04-01T11:57:26Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > [hijack] > Excuse me for briefly being a pendant […] Pedant. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-determined-what-photo-of-a-person-the-press-will-run/617372/44 "2012-04-01T12:36:45Z")
> [@Gukumaize](#): > > Pedant. Sorry for the hijack, but I’m quoting to keep this awesome name preserved for posterity! ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-determined-what-photo-of-a-person-the-press-will-run/617372/45 "2012-04-01T18:03:14Z")
> [@Gukumaize](#): > > Pedant. Hahaha, yes, or that 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-determined-what-photo-of-a-person-the-press-will-run/617372/46 "2012-04-01T19:14:11Z")
A 16 year old black guy was killed by a white cop in my neck of the woods (Bergen County NJ). The local paper ran the story with a photo of an angelic looking 12 year old black child. When asked why they didn’t use a more recent photo, they said “We coldn’t find one.” Turns out the “child” had an arrest record, so someone wrote in and asked “Why didn’t you use his mug shot?” ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-determined-what-photo-of-a-person-the-press-will-run/617372/47 "2012-04-01T23:57:49Z")
> [@Frylock](#): > > > [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > > > Depends on what story you want to tell. > > > > If you want Martin to be the victim, you’ll show an innocent/angelic pic of him. If you want him to be the aggressor & perpetrator, you’ll show a gangsta/drug dealer pic of him. > > This being GQ, I’m looking for substantiated claims rather than speculation. Actually, **Crafter\_Man** ’s comment is a perfectly valid GQ. I’ve worked in the business (including being editor-in-chief of a monthly alternative newspaper for three years), and I can tell you that editors _DO_ choose pictures to help tell the story. If you’re writing a story about how horrible it is that some dude shot a deer without a license, and you have a choice between a picture of the guy in camo carrying a .30-30, or a picture of the same dude in a suit and tie at an art gallery opening, you’re going to use the photo with the gun. It fits the story. I like to think that most “real” journalists (excluding the tabloids here) avoid the obvious bias, but you can tell a lot about a publication by what photo they run of a rape victim… ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-determined-what-photo-of-a-person-the-press-will-run/617372/48 "2012-04-02T00:01:30Z")
Note that even now with other photographs available, the press still runs the angelic 12-year old Trayvon against 60-lb-heavier-than-today mug shot of Zimmerman: > **[Parents of Trayvon Martin ask feds to investigate state prosecutor for nixing...](https://www.nydailynews.com/news/crime/parents-trayvon-martin-feds-investigate-state-prosecutor-nixing-efforts-arrest-george-zimmerman-article-1.1054172)** > > On the night of the killing, State's Attorney Norm Wolfinger reportedly nixed efforts by Sanford, Fla., Police Detective Chris Serino to charge George Zimmerman with manslaughter. or, if that’s too “tabloidy” [http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2017887566\_trayvonmartinfacts02.html](http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2017887566_trayvonmartinfacts02.html) ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-determined-what-photo-of-a-person-the-press-will-run/617372/49 "2012-04-02T00:02:35Z")
> [@Dufus](#): > > I want to become a liberal. [moderator note] Political potshots are not allowed in this forum. Stop doing this, **Dufus**. [/moderator note] ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-determined-what-photo-of-a-person-the-press-will-run/617372/50 "2012-04-02T00:54:08Z")
ISTM there is a major difference between the potentially very limited choice that media have immediately after a story breaks concerning some (previously) unknown person, and the choice the media have about, say, a politician. Politicians are photographed continually and editors can, by using photographs of someone talking or otherwise showing emotion or expression, pick anything they like. I’ve certainly seen plenty of examples of very normal looking politicians, shown on TV as having normal expressions and mannerisms, for which papers regularly use photos taken showing them looking like they are snarling if it suits the story or the editorial line. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-determined-what-photo-of-a-person-the-press-will-run/617372/51 "2012-04-02T11:39:32Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Unless one can show that Zimmerman’s mug shot was freely available on the net using a Google search on Zimmerman’s name, that journalist would have had to first figure out that a mug shot exists, contact whoever holds the mug shots and ask for it. Which is about as much trouble or more as finding out Zimmerman’s dad’s phone number, calling it (remember, this was before the big hoopla started, he was still probably answering it) and asking for a photo. I am sure Zimmerman’s family could have come up with an angelic-looking photo for publication. > > Here is some color maybe explaining how an angelic-looking 12-year old Martin gets juxtaposed in the press with a much-heavier-than-today mugshot of Zimmerman: > > [NBC to do ‘internal investigation’ on Zimmerman segment](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/post/nbc-to-do-internal-investigation-on-zimmerman-segment/2012/03/31/gIQAc4HhnS_blog.html) I hesitate to change the subject so I’ll just ask if there is a thread about NBC’s biased editing referred to above. ---
**Author:** ![Terr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/839c29/32.png) [@Terr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terr)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-determined-what-photo-of-a-person-the-press-will-run/617372/52 "2012-04-02T16:02:16Z")
> [@What\_the](#): > > I hesitate to change the subject so I’ll just ask if there is a thread about NBC’s biased editing referred to above. Didn’t see one. Just post here about it. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-determined-what-photo-of-a-person-the-press-will-run/617372/53 "2012-04-02T18:22:02Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > And the final choice of picture (along with everything else in the paper, for the most part) is down to the editor, not the individual journalist (again, IME) Yeah…without appearing to get all my information from comic books, I assume there’s a [J. Jonah Jameson](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._Jonah_Jameson) somewhere barking “Run the scary photo with story A, the sexy photo with story B, and all the photos for story C are crap! Get Parker in here!” ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2012, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-determined-what-photo-of-a-person-the-press-will-run/617372/54 "2012-04-08T15:21:21Z")
> [@Terr](#): > > Didn’t see one. Just post here about it. Nahhh… not worth the effort. Surely there is one by now:D [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-it-determined-what-photo-of-a-person-the-press-will-run/617372.md?page=2)