Photos of the Obama rally
This is the front page of our Life section today. Every week, Thursday's Life front is a photo page, sometimes based on the news, most times using feature photos.
We had many more good photos of the Obama rally on Saturday than we could run in Sunday's paper.
We decided to focus the photo page on scenes from rally, whether it is shots of security eyeing the crowd, people dancing or people praying. One photo shows the backs of the candidates and the size of the crowd. The smallest photo is of a grinning Obama.
A few people called today to suggest that this page was too much like a campaign ad. We did discuss that point yesterday. I decided to run with it for these reasons:
* The presidential election is arguably the biggest news event going these days (arguably because the economy is competing strongly with it).
* 18,000 people -- most probably from our readership area -- turned out for the rally.
* We had compelling people-oriented photos.
* We hope to do the same if McCain comes to town, or Palin schedules a public event when she's here on Oct. 16.
Some pretty sharp journalists here objected, saying it could communicate a bias. Thoughts? (I expect political partisans to weigh in, but also encourage those with more neutral political stands to voice an opinion.)
Comments (1)
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"Some pretty sharp journalists here objected, saying it could communicate a bias"
Obviously, you didn't agree with the assessment.
"Thoughts? (I expect political partisans to weigh in, but also encourage those with more neutral political stands to voice an opinion.)"
No need to discuss the obvious, JR.
it's just the latest example of the (lack of) standards and judgment we've come to expect from our hometown paper.
Posted on October 3, 2008 1:57 PM