An apology to our readers
FROM THE EDITOR-IN-CHIEF:
Moustafa Ayad
editor@siu.edu
As editor-in-chief of the DAILY EGYPTIAN, I apologize to the readers who were subjected to what seems like a sexually suggestive backpage photo that ran in the Daily Egyptian's Pulse entertainment supplement.
The chain of command failed the readers in this instance.
The editors and the copy editors who lay out the pages of the Pulse should have flagged the photo not only for its content but its cutline. The words that ran underneath the photo amplified the problem.
It was a simple lapse in judgement that was not intended to offend, but had the chain worked, it probably would not have run.
A simple solution to the cabaret photo would have been a different image. As a newsman, my only concern is to the value of information given to the readers, value that is included in the photos as well as the words. That photo added nothing to the story that could not have been shown with a different dominant image.
It was simply a mistake where photgraphers, page designers and the editor-in-chief did not communicate with one another to realize what was going into the paper.
The Pulse is an entertainment magazine intended to deliver amusement as well as entertainment, but what appeared on the back page yesterday was clearly not amusing.
This is not the purpose of the newspaper or its supplements. This newspaper strives to meet as high a standard of integrity as any other paper in the country.
The Page 1 photo of the deer is another story. It was an integral part of a story about deer-related accidents that take place on the highways of this state, and we received several comments from angry and perturbed readers about its graphic nature. My justification, as well as the justification of several other Daily Egyptian editors, is that the photo represents the reality of the story.
It might be gruesome to some, but that photo should make a lot of readers remember that deer are on the roadways. It does more public service than it could ever do public damage.
The placement of the photo could have been different, but we decided the current position was appropriate due to the severity of the accidents happening across the state.
In fact, an Associated Press story about a deer accident in Illinois came across the wire as our paper was going to press.
To this editor, the picture is justified, if only to make people slow down this holiday season and be more aware of their surroundings.
FROM THE PULSE EDITOR:
Jason Sereno
jsereno@dailyegyptian.com
Page 16 of the Pulse this week featured photos that upset some of our readers. Although the photos were taken by a woman, approved by her female photography editor and laid out on the page by a woman, some of our female readers found them in poor taste.
The picture that caused the most uproar was the main photo, which displayed two dancers spreading their legs while practicing "Cell Block Tango," a number from the musical "Chicago."
The reason I first decided to run the photos on the back page was because they were the only original shots (besides the 27 Best of Carbondale pictures that were taken by our ads department) that ran in our paper that issue.
The story, written by Pulse reporter Rachel Lindsay, was also superb and deserving of our back page.
I thought the photos captured the energy and flair within the story very well. To me, dance is a form of expression unsurpassed by any other. What some people may have considered raunchy, I took to be a show of female liberation (a definitive motif in the musical "Chicago").
Still, I understand how some people may have taken the photos as another way for entertainment publications to exploit women. I sincerely apologize for that. My intention was not to offend, but to produce the best publication possible.
I can only hope our readers will understand.
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