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Anatomy of a Photograph (more media bias and omission)
Zombie Time ^ | 9/27/05

Posted on 09/27/2005 4:05:54 PM PDT by Brian Mosely

Anatomy of a Photograph



An analysis of a single seemingly innocuous photograph, and the pervasive media bias it reveals.


My photo essay of the anti-war protest in San Francisco on September 24, 2005 was not the only report done about the event. A few other outlets ran their own coverage. But the one photo from the rally that was seen by the most people was this:


Why? Because the San Francisco Chronicle, which had the only mainstream media coverage of the rally, published this photograph on its front page as a teaser for their article about the event.



Now, let's take a closer look at this image.


By chance, I took a photo of the same girl just a few moments later. Looks practically identical, doesn't it?

But you might notice that my picture is lower resolution. That's because it's a zoomed-in portion of a much larger photograph. I cropped off the other parts of the picture to get a close-up of the girl.

But what would happen if I hadn't cropped off so much? Let's take a step backward and reveal what the San Francisco Chronicle didn't want you to see.




Here's the same photo without as much cropping, revealing more of the context. You can see that the girl's protest contingent also sported Palestinian flags and obscene placards.

Now let's take another step back.



Here's my full original photo, uncropped. Now we can see that the girl is just one of several teenagers, all wearing terrorist-style bandannas covering their faces.

But, as you'll notice, the bandannas are all printed with the same design. Was this a grassroots protest statement the teenagers had come up with all by themselves?


To find out, let's take a look at another photo in the series, taken at the same time:



Oops -- it looks like they're actually being stage-managed by an adult, who is giving them directions and guiding them toward the front of the march. But who is she?

The last picture in the series reveals all.



It turns out that the woman giving directions belongs to one of the Communist groups organizing the rally -- if her t-shirt is to be believed, since it depicts

the flag of Communist Vietnam, which has been frequently displayed by such groups at protest rallies in the U.S. for decades.


The San Francisco Chronicle featured the original photograph on its front page in order to convey a positive message about the rally -- perhaps that even politically aware teenagers were inspired to show up and rally for peace, sporting the message, "People of Color say 'No to War!'" And that served the Chronicle's agenda.

But this simple analysis reveals the very subtle but insidious type of bias that occurs in the media all the time. The Chronicle did not print an inaccuracy, nor did it doctor a photograph to misrepresent the facts. Instead, the Chronicle committed the sin of omission: it told you the truth, but it didn't tell you the whole truth.



Because the whole truth -- that the girl was part of a group of naive teenagers recruited by Communist activists to wear terrorist-style bandannas and carry Palestinian flags and obscene placards -- is disturbing, and doesn't conform to the narrative that the Chronicle is trying to promote. By presenting the photo out of context, and only showing the one image that suits its purpose, the Chronicle is intentionally manipulating the reader's impression of the rally, and the rally's intent.

Such tactics -- in the no-man's-land between ethical and unethical -- are commonplace in the media, and have been for decades. It is only now, with the advent of citizen journalism, that we can at last begin to see the whole story and realize that the public has been manipulated like this all along.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: communist; deceit; enemywithin; lefties; mdm; mediabias; msm; supportthetroops
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To: Brian Mosely; kstewskis; glock rocks; BurbankKarl

Flippin' Commies, all.

Sure hope these chickies enjoy their faces covered...cuz if they get their way, it's gonna be a burkha.

Brian, EXCELLENT post...kstewskis, thanks for the ping!


61 posted on 09/27/2005 4:50:41 PM PDT by Brad’s Gramma ( One Year's Free Gasoline! Call (202) 224-6542 Ask for a Mr. Shumer. Schumer. WhatEVER!)
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To: Brian Mosely

Outstanding work from one of my favorite posters here.


62 posted on 09/27/2005 4:51:16 PM PDT by denydenydeny ("As a Muslim of course I am a terrorist"--Sheikh Omar Brooks, quoted in the London Times 8/7/05)
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To: Brian Mosely

Great work Sir!


63 posted on 09/27/2005 4:51:43 PM PDT by Artemis Webb
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To: Brian Mosely

This is AMAZING. Honestly - I'm spellbound. Incredible.


64 posted on 09/27/2005 4:54:25 PM PDT by mudblood
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To: Brian Mosely

Flagrant act of photo journalism - excellent, just excellent!!


65 posted on 09/27/2005 4:55:50 PM PDT by WIladyconservative (Save us from future Freepathons - set up a monthly donation!)
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To: Brian Mosely

Bump.


66 posted on 09/27/2005 4:57:15 PM PDT by grimalkin (“They have an engine called the Press whereby the people are deceived.” - C.S. Lewis)
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To: Brian Mosely

WOW! in one post you exposed the blatant anti-American media bias. Wow...


67 posted on 09/27/2005 4:57:36 PM PDT by PajamaTruthMafia
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To: Brian Mosely; OXENinFLA

Bump!


68 posted on 09/27/2005 5:00:27 PM PDT by maggief (No 'luffs)
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To: Brian Mosely

dak on LGF posted an excellent point...there's much more to this story than the SF Chronicle and the photographs. How many more people from the Socialist Republic of Vietnam were at the rally? Were they Americans who had been recruited or people who came here from said country? Where did the funding come from for the T-shirts, masks, etc. (is the government of Vietnam funnelling funds to these groups)? From where do they get their marching orders? With what other groups are they affiliated? How exactly are they networked? Methinks we are only staring at the tip of a much larger iceberg here.


69 posted on 09/27/2005 5:03:12 PM PDT by Windcatcher (Earth to libs: MARXISM DOESN'T SELL HERE. Try somewhere else.)
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To: FreedomCalls
LOL. That is truly funny.
70 posted on 09/27/2005 5:06:37 PM PDT by pollyannaish
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To: Brian Mosely; bert; Jim Robinson; Bob J; GunnyBob; doug from upland; editor-surveyor; ...

TERRIFIC CATCH.


KUDOS.


71 posted on 09/27/2005 5:07:35 PM PDT by The Spirit Of Allegiance (SAVE THE BRAINFOREST! Boycott the RED Dead Tree Media & NUKE the DNC Class Action Temper Tantrum!)
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To: Brian Mosely

Bump for the truth! Nice job Brian!


72 posted on 09/27/2005 5:21:09 PM PDT by Hot Tabasco (I'm tired of idiots and don't have enough ammo to shoot them all.......Jeez, I hate that thought!)
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To: Brian Mosely

Good work, Brian. My hat is off to you. You are revealing a story which should be more broadly told.


73 posted on 09/27/2005 5:29:01 PM PDT by Alia
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To: Brian Mosely; jwfiv

This is fantastic work, thank you so much for posting it.


74 posted on 09/27/2005 5:33:06 PM PDT by Serb5150 (I'm preparing for the big one. Are you?)
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To: cripplecreek

the term "usefull idiots" comes to mind. One has to wonder if the "idiots" even realized what they were being used for or by whom.


75 posted on 09/27/2005 5:40:50 PM PDT by N2Gems
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To: Brian Mosely
Nice post.

bttt

76 posted on 09/27/2005 5:45:02 PM PDT by T Ruth
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To: Brian Mosely

WOW! I know that most of the so called Peace protesters are communists, but the public doesn't. This is one of the reasons why. The media covers this up.


77 posted on 09/27/2005 5:48:30 PM PDT by ladyinred (It is all my fault okay?)
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To: Brian Mosely

Excellent. The MSM hasn't got a chance. What's the frequency?


78 posted on 09/27/2005 5:50:37 PM PDT by gathersnomoss
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To: Arizona Pard
So, what are we trying to do here? Tell everyone The story may be false, but the context is true?

Uhh, it's more like what are you trying to do here? You seem to be implying that Zombie is guilty of some sort of Chronicle-like mendacity of his own. Hey, he posted his photos of the event to let us make up our own minds as to whether his or the Chronicle's more accurately capture the flavor of the march. He already admitted his photos weren't taken at the same time, so I don't know what your sleuthing accomplishes.

79 posted on 09/27/2005 6:12:22 PM PDT by caspera
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To: FreedomCalls

Note to self for next time:

First, make sign.

THEN smoke.


80 posted on 09/27/2005 7:55:26 PM PDT by rlmorel ("Innocence seldom utters outraged shrieks. Guilt does." Whittaker Chambers)
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