Photogenic Baloney

FIRST, read this Atlantic Wire headline: "Judge Rules Health Care's 'Individual Mandate' Unconstitutional." It’s big breaking news today. Next, look at the photo of President Obama (left) which accompanied the story. The implied message: A frustrated Obama is crestfallen over the development. Hell, it’s not even subtle. (The full photo, showing Obama standing forlornly alone under the Krieg lights, makes an even bigger statement: He is adrift politically with questionable support.)

And it’s a total crock. As in 100% baloney.

Photog Jewel Samad (AFP/Getty Images) captured Obama just as he glanced downward while listening to his wife speak at the Harriet Tubman Elementary School in DC this morning. Obama’s eyes appear to be closed, but the camera’s high shutter speed simply caught him between presidential eye blinks. (Obama was at the school to sign a new child nutrition bill, something the First Lady championed. So the occasion was quite joyous. The president joked, "Had I not been able to get this bill passed, I would be sleeping on the couch.")

So, the Atlantic took the health care story and married it to an unrelated, out of context photo to suggest that the president is dejected over a setback to his signature health care bill. Oh, and there was nary a mention of anything relating to Obama’s mood or reaction in the piece. Like I said, it’s a crock. Sadly, photo editorializing has become all too common on the web as sites “emote” their articles for page views. As any perusal of Getty or AP photo archives will reveal, most of those “anguished” Obama photos the media typically pegs to stories are actually shots of the president praying at solemn memorial events. Kinda shocking, huh? It would be nice if news outlets would get back to basics and confine their editorializing to the editorial pages.