2008 Woodie Awards
Photograph not intended to offend
The Traveler Editorial Board
Issue date: 10/12/07 Section: Opinion
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Because we have received a large number of letters and phone calls on the subject, the editors of The Arkansas Traveler felt the need to address the recent decision to run a controversial photograph on the front page.
The Monday issue of the Traveler featured several photographs from the Bikes, Blues & BBQ festival, which took place last weekend. Among those on the front page was a photograph of a festival attendee, identified as Adam Youngblood, who appeared with a shaved head wearing a leather vest on which there were multiple Nazi and Ku Klux Klan symbols.
Although many people have singled out this photograph in the past few days, it was placed on the front page in conjunction with two others in an attempt to illustrate the wide range of people who attended the festival: families and children, ordinary bike enthusiasts and those like Youngblood.
However, because of our failure to communicate this intent in the text that accompanied the photographs, and because of our failure to acknowledge the meaning of the symbols on the vest in that text, many of our readers were very offended by this front-page photograph.
We have received much criticism and a variety of accusations because of this photograph. It has even been suggested by a few misguided readers that the editors of the Traveler might sympathize with the beliefs symbolized by the patches on Youngblood's vest. So, let us make this very clear: The Arkansas Traveler does not support the neo-Nazi movement or the Ku Klux Klan.
What the Traveler does support is the truth, and we make every effort to report the truth to our readers. Obviously, in revealing this particular bit of truth - the fact that people like Youngblood attend Fayetteville's yearly festival - our method was flawed, and it led to much confusion and anger within the UA community.
For this, we would like to apologize to our readers who took offense to this photograph. Again, our intention was not to offend anyone and we sincerely regret that we did not present this photograph in a manner that made our intention more clear.
The Monday issue of the Traveler featured several photographs from the Bikes, Blues & BBQ festival, which took place last weekend. Among those on the front page was a photograph of a festival attendee, identified as Adam Youngblood, who appeared with a shaved head wearing a leather vest on which there were multiple Nazi and Ku Klux Klan symbols.
Although many people have singled out this photograph in the past few days, it was placed on the front page in conjunction with two others in an attempt to illustrate the wide range of people who attended the festival: families and children, ordinary bike enthusiasts and those like Youngblood.
However, because of our failure to communicate this intent in the text that accompanied the photographs, and because of our failure to acknowledge the meaning of the symbols on the vest in that text, many of our readers were very offended by this front-page photograph.
We have received much criticism and a variety of accusations because of this photograph. It has even been suggested by a few misguided readers that the editors of the Traveler might sympathize with the beliefs symbolized by the patches on Youngblood's vest. So, let us make this very clear: The Arkansas Traveler does not support the neo-Nazi movement or the Ku Klux Klan.
What the Traveler does support is the truth, and we make every effort to report the truth to our readers. Obviously, in revealing this particular bit of truth - the fact that people like Youngblood attend Fayetteville's yearly festival - our method was flawed, and it led to much confusion and anger within the UA community.
For this, we would like to apologize to our readers who took offense to this photograph. Again, our intention was not to offend anyone and we sincerely regret that we did not present this photograph in a manner that made our intention more clear.
Viewing Comments 1 - 1 of 1
Brian
posted 10/11/07 @ 11:49 PM CST
It's ridiculous to suggest the Traveler has any agreement with a white supremisist group. That's not the case at all, why even mention it at all in the article. (Continued…)
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