Discussion concepts: Visuals & situational/ cultural context; ethical publishing principles; photojournalism ethics.
Orthodox Jewish paper apologises for Hillary Clinton deletion
According to Associated Press (2011), Orthodox Jewish paper apologizes for Hillary Clinton, the U.S secretary of state and Audrey Tomason, the counterterrorism director deletion in New York paper Di Tzeitung which sparked an outraged among American citizens.
(source:http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/10/jewish-paper-apologises-hillary-clinton)
Above shows the published picture and the original picture below it. According to Di Tzeitung, they had explained that the deletion of Hillary Clinton and Audrey Tomason was due to their "long standing editorial policy" of not publishing women's images. It is said that their readers believe that women should be appreciated for who and what they are but not what they look. The Jewish law of modesty is an expression of respect for women and not other wise. However, most the Orthodox Jewish communities disagreed, they appreciated Hillary Clinton's unique capabilities, talents and compassion for all, which lead to the acknowledgement of Di Tzeitung that they should not have published the altered picture.
Di Tzeitung is known as a very religious paper. Ravitz (2011) reported that in a written statement by Di Tzeitung, publishing a newspaper is a heavy responsibilities and their policies are guided by Rabbinical Board and due to their modesty laws, they were not allowed to published images of women. Others such as Robin Bodner, the executive director of Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance found this very offensive while a former ultra-Orthodox Jew, Rosenberg called this 'strange media' with their strange censorship on women.
According to Schriver (1997, p. 14) research in cross-cultural document designs agree that graphics are not necessary obvious and the order in people read matters. Hence, why Di Tzeitung followed their editorial policy on not publishing women's images. This is because readers matter. Secondly, no one would understand the reason of the absence of women in this newspaper except for the Jewish communities itself. This is known as semiotic landscape. Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006, p. 35) states that semiotic landscape is the construction of signs and symbols that can only be understood within or across culture. In this case, the deletion of Hillary Clinton, to many it may be offensive but according to the Jewish Law, for their culture, it is a sign of respect for women in general.
From this article, I understand that different cultures have different rules and regulation when it came to press content. Di Tzeitung was simply following their long term policy and I believe they should not be wronged for their actions. It is simply due to the difference of culture. We should take time to study and understand their culture before judging their actions. Nevertheless, Di Tzeitung apologized for their actions and regretted publishing the altered picture.
References:
Di Tzeitung is known as a very religious paper. Ravitz (2011) reported that in a written statement by Di Tzeitung, publishing a newspaper is a heavy responsibilities and their policies are guided by Rabbinical Board and due to their modesty laws, they were not allowed to published images of women. Others such as Robin Bodner, the executive director of Jewish Orthodox Feminist Alliance found this very offensive while a former ultra-Orthodox Jew, Rosenberg called this 'strange media' with their strange censorship on women.
According to Schriver (1997, p. 14) research in cross-cultural document designs agree that graphics are not necessary obvious and the order in people read matters. Hence, why Di Tzeitung followed their editorial policy on not publishing women's images. This is because readers matter. Secondly, no one would understand the reason of the absence of women in this newspaper except for the Jewish communities itself. This is known as semiotic landscape. Kress and Van Leeuwen (2006, p. 35) states that semiotic landscape is the construction of signs and symbols that can only be understood within or across culture. In this case, the deletion of Hillary Clinton, to many it may be offensive but according to the Jewish Law, for their culture, it is a sign of respect for women in general.
From this article, I understand that different cultures have different rules and regulation when it came to press content. Di Tzeitung was simply following their long term policy and I believe they should not be wronged for their actions. It is simply due to the difference of culture. We should take time to study and understand their culture before judging their actions. Nevertheless, Di Tzeitung apologized for their actions and regretted publishing the altered picture.
References:
- Schriver, KA 1997, Dynamics in document design: Creating texts for readers, Wiley Computer Pub, New York.
- Kress, GR & van Leeuwen, T 2006, Reading images: The grammar of visual design, Routledge, New York.
- Ravitz, J 2011, 'Religious paper apologizes for erasing Clinton from iconic photo', CNN, 9 May, viewed 7 November 2011, <http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2011/05/09/religious-paper-cuts-clinton-from-iconic-photo/>.
- Associated Press 2011, 'Orthodox Jewish paper apologizes for Hillary Clinton deletion', Guardian, 10 May, viewed 7 November 2011, <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/10/jewish-paper-apologises-hillary-clinton>.
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