WAG Nice Try Mizzou,
Point for The Tribune
Here’s an article having to do with Ricky Clemmons, the athletic department, and ethics.
Wait. It's not what you think.
This time Ricky is the victim, MU athletics is the perpetuator, and ethics are left out of the equation.
For any current or former Missourian reporter, there is often a bit of rivalry aimed at The Columbia Tribune (unless you later get hired by them). They take pleasure at taking potshots at the Missourian or MU when we mess up and we take equal delight at eviscerating them whenever they foul up. The score is long running and about equal, but still many keep close track of every possible point.
The Trib wins today with their article about the altering of a photo in the Men’s Tiger Basketball Media guide. The Tribune has a blanket agreement to let MU use its photos without having to ask permission every time.
MU used a picture depicting the win over Colorado. The photographer who took the photo was surprised when he saw it, because he noticed something different. Ricky, who had been in the background, was missing, the photographer said.
Can we say potential ethics violation boys and girls? This is a serious charge and not one that any journalist may take lightly. Altering photos is like altering facts. It’s something that shouldn’t be done in the name of journalistic integrity… and yet it had been done.
A minor digression before we move on with the lecture. A question that is fair to ask is how did the photographer notice this after a simple glance? After taking thousands of photos over the course of a year, with so many other images clouding the mind, how could he see something fishy right off the bat?
The Trib photo was entered in a contest and ended up winning first place in a regional contest of the National Press Photographers Association. Between the hoopla and the mass reproduction of the image, the photographer was quite acquainted with nuances the photo (that and it’s a great shot).
For those of you keeping score at home, that’s another point for the Tribune and another black eye for Mizzou.
The photos show Clemons softly treading walking off in the distance. Or at least the original did.
The edited version pasted an image of a photographer (one whose image appears just five people over, next to the basketball pole) over Ricky and rounded out the edges. It’s a simple Photoshop job. Even I could do it.
How easily an image is erased…
The Trib columnist notes at the close of his piece that white shadow of Clemmons is still reflected on the floor.
The irony hard not to miss. No matter how hard they may work to get rid of that spectre, the kids going to be with MU for some time.
Wait. One last note: the pages where the altered image appeared were touting MU’s “diversity” and “academic excellence.”
I guess we’ll save the honesty and ethics page for another day.
'Good_job_Trib_I_tip_my_hat_to_you'
