The NYT‘s 2006 Questionable ‘Icons’
Michele McNally, assistant managing editor of photography for the New York Times, explains that the Times’ Year in Pictures online feature is meant to include “images that become hopefully icons” in that they are “memorable,” “historical,” “sociological, sort of define what people do, what people do to each other” “psychological, it needs to have some sort of emotional impact” and “aesthetic.”
Media observers who followed last summer’s war between Israel and Hezbollah will immediately recognize the following image, which appears in Year in Pictures, as an “icon,” but probably not in the way that McNally intended:
Indeed, the blogosphere considers the Green Helmet Guy an “icon,” — an icon representing Hezbollah’s manipulation of the media.
Other observations about the Year in Pictures:
* In one photographic essay, Tyler Hicks maintains that “Lebanese Red Cross workers have been hit while driving their ambulances.” Back in July, the Times was apparently duped like many other media outlets during the fog of war. What’s the Gray Lady’s excuse five months later for continuing to report this disputed claim as fact?
* Although there are images of Israeli soldiers with weaponry, there are no images of, and very little comment about, Hezbollah fighters. Instead, the “historical” feature places a heavy emphasis on Lebanese civilian casualties, without mentioning that Lebanese claims about the number of civilian casualties have themselves become history.
(Hat tip: Ehud R)
More from SNAPSHOTS
Mahmoud Abbas’ Diatribe Threatening Israel Included Bogus Canaanite Claim
September 10, 2019
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ recent anti-Israel diatribe that aired on PA TV was monitored and translated by Palestinian Media Watch (PMW). Excerpt: "I say to [Israel]: Every stone you have built on our land [...]
CNN Calls House’s Unifying Anti-BDS Vote ‘Divisive’
July 24, 2019
Yesterday, in an overwhelming vote of bipartisan support, the House of Representatives voted 398 to 17 to adopt a resolution opposing the anti-Israel BDS (boycott, divest, sanctions) campaign. Yet, CNN's headline casts the unifying vote [...]
NY Times Cites Poll, Hides Palestinian Support for Violence
July 9, 2019
The New York Times has struggled to accurately describe polls this year. In January, editor Jonathan Weisman misrepresented Pew polling data to describe a nonexistent surge in Israeli support for the United States under President [...]
CNN’s Zakaria Indulges Palestinian Propagandist Hanan Ashrawi
June 9, 2019
Fareed Zakaria’s weekly Cable News Network (CNN) program (grandiosely named “Global Public Square”) June 9 broadcast included a discussion of the current U.S. Middle East peace plan with guests Hanan Ashrawi (Palestinian Authority official) and [...]
In Robert Bernstein Obit, AFP Inappropriately References His Judaism
May 29, 2019
Robert Bernstein (Courtesy the New Press) In its obituary yesterday for American publisher Robert Bernstein, Agence France Presse inserted an inappropriate reference to the Human Rights Watch founder who later turned on the organization due [...]