Fashion in Politics

I don’t know about any of you, but I am absolutely sick of the coverage of fashion in politics. I know that historically a candidate’s looks has been somewhat important, but it seems like this year women in politics are being subject to much scrutiny about their dress. Is this really all there is to write about these women? Who cares that Hillary Clinton rocked the pantsuits or that Sarah Palin is a fan of shiny shoes? Even the potential first lady’s are being analyzed for their dress. As Bass writes in the article Fashion in Politics Remains a Tricky Business, “If we can't judge the style of the man, we assume we can judge the man by the style of the woman he selected to be his wife.” Sadly, this is true in society, and since people have this preconceived notion, journalists are giving people what they want by writing about their dress. There's even a blog called Mrs. O that is dedicated to following the fashion of Michelle Obama. How ridiculous.

Match-o-Matic II

A friend forwarded me this really interesting political quiz on ABC news online called Match-o-Matic II. The survey asks you to choose a quote that best aligns with your political view point, and at the end of the survey, it shows which presidential candidate said each quote and what candidate is your best match based on the answers you gave. The topics range from the economy, foreign policy, health care, immigration, abortion, gay marriage and global warming, among others. Surprisingly, some of the quotes pulled to generate the survey were not as clear cut as I thought. Of course, regarding such topics as foreign policy and abortion, it was sometimes obvious what candidate said the quote.

I found this quiz interesting because of the quotes that were chosen for the survey. It would have been easy to use two very opposing quotes about each topic; however, the editors who made this survey tended to pull quotes that at times had very subtle differences. I think the purpose of this was to illustrate that you do not always know a candidate’s position on an issue. At least for me, I found myself confused in parts. Overall, I thought it was a very creative and interactive way to educate people about the election. You should check it out, and let me know what you think.

Headlines

One of my favorite shows is the “Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” and in my opinion, the best part is definitely the “Headlines” portion on Monday nights. While searching the web, I found that all of the ones featured on the show are posted on his website, and some of them cracked me up. He features not only errors in headlines, but errors in advertisements, news stories and photographs as well. I mean some of these are so obviously bad, I can’t believe that they got through copy editors. You should take the time to check them out, but here are a few that made me giggle. (You have to click "next" on some of them to see the whole thing)

Photo caption of McCain

“Study Shows Frequent Sex Enhances Pregnancy Chances”

A photograph of Laura Bush next to President Bush

“Seahorse Farm now offers riding lessons”

It may be worth a good laugh to scroll through more than just these. While they are hilarious, we must remember that journalists are the ones writing the comedy…

Photo Response

If I were the editor at a newspaper trying to decide if these photos should be used, my final decision would be no. I used the Minimize Harm section of the SPJ Code of Ethics to help me make my decision, and I also relied on my gut reaction to them. The section of SPJ Code of Ethics that I think applies to each photograph is “Journalists should be sensitive when seeking or using interviews or photographs of those affected by tragedy or grief.”

When dealing with the first photo of a boy grieving over a dog, I also considered the section that says, “Journalists should show compassion for those who may be affected adversely by news coverage. Use special sensitivity when dealing with children and inexperienced sources or subjects.” Since a child is involved, I think this photo should definitely not be used.

Pictures 2, 3 and 4 are photographs of the dead. I think these were the easiest to decide upon. How would these families feel if these pictures were published in a newspaper? The publishing of these photos would be a harmful intrusion into these families’ privacy. Under the minimize harm section, it says “Only an overriding public need can justify intrusion into anyone’s privacy.” I do not think there is an overriding public need to see any of these three photographs. I think a news story without a picture would be sufficient in informing the public about what happened.

The last two pictures of the boy with a spike through his mouth and the sexually assaulted woman would also fit under the SPJ criteria of “A journalist should show good taste. Avoid pandering to lurid curiosity.” I think running these pictures would not show good taste, although I was torn about the last photograph. In my opinion, the picture of the boy is too gruesome to be in a news paper, even though I assumed that he survived. Also, I was absolutely mortified about the picture of the girl, and at first, I could not image how anyone could even consider running it. This photograph was the one that I struggled with the most. I did notice that her face is blurred, which would minimize harm. After thinking about it some more, maybe there is an overriding public need to see this event. I am still not sure how I feel about it. I’m sure some editors would run it, but I think my final decision would be no.

I do not think it matters if these events were local or not. I think the same SPJ standards should be applied. Along those same lines, I do not think it matters where or how you play the photos. I think the same criteria should be considered whether publishing them online or in print.