USA Today published a doctored photo of Secretary of State Dr. Condoleezza Rice. It blackened her face and whitened her eyes. The explicit aim was to demonize rather than flatter her. That’s why it’s facing so much backlash.
USA Today doctoring Dr. Rice
TIME magazine published a doctored photo of O.J. Simpson to a similar effect. It wanted to portray him as the accused double murderer. So demonizing him might have served a journalistic purpose.
In contrast, Rice is secretary of state. She is highly accomplished and widely respected. So USA Today served no journalistic purpose by demonizing her.
Institutional racism
This doctoring betrays institutional racism. And the backlash it incited forced USA Today to issue this statement earlier:
The photo of Condoleezza Rice that originally accompanied this story was altered in a manner that did not meet USA TODAY’s editorial standards. …
In this case, after sharpening the photo for clarity, the editor brightened a portion of Rice’s face, giving her eyes an unnatural appearance. This resulted in a distortion of the original not in keeping with our editorial standards.
Except that “brightened a portion of Rice’s face” smacks of mocking the complaints. After all, USA Today is saying it intended to make Rice look better, not blacker. And if you believe that, you believe O.J. intended to help his wife, not kill her.
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