Houston Chronicle Pulls Ming Photo Showing Anti-American Poster

Jim Romenesko's Media News ^ | 6/28/02 | Jim Romenesko

[BrookdalePark]

An Agence France Presse photo in the Houston Chronicle's early Thursday editions showed basketball player Yao Ming near a Mao-era poster in CNN's Beijing offices. The poster message: "Unite people of the whole world! Down with the American imperialists! Down with the Soviet revisionists!"

The Chron's Dan Cunningham says: "We looked at all of the photos that were available to us from the various wire services, and we decided this was the best photo to illustrate one of the biggest news events of the year. Late (Wednesday) night, one of our staff members who is Chinese raised concerns about the content of the photo, so we elected to pull the photo until we could fully evaluate it."

It didn't appear in the final edition. (Houston Chronicle)

[BrookdalePark]

Note that the poster was in the CNN office. The Houston Chronicle found the poster inappropriate, but apparently no one at CNN has ever complained. The Chronicle's article is available at http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/sports/1474274

[Paul Atreides]

The only things unacceptable at CNN are Christianity and conservatism.

[Dog Gone]

CNN responds,

"These are ... old propaganda posters that are memorabilia from a bygone era," CNN spokeswoman Megan Mahoney said. "These posters are purchased in China as collectors' items, the way people in the United States purchase old movie posters."

Yeah, sure.

[Betty Jane]

And all companies put up memorabilia that impunes their homeland. I wonder if Jeewish or Polish companies routinely hang Nazi paraphanelia for their clients to see. How about Indians, feathers not dots, putting up poster offering rewards for theitr scalps.

Oh my mistake, This is CNN. Communists are the good guys to them.