Between Editions

By John Worthen
For Between Editions
In the news business, people sometimes think that we write or photograph things just to offend them. In reality, all we do is report what we hear and see. We don’t make news, we report it. But this photo, which appeared in the News-Times Tuesday on page 6A, offended many.

Shortly after the day began, calls and e-mails poured into the newsroom from people who thought the picture was inappropriate. Other callers thought it was humorous or ironic. Here’s an account from the man who took the photo, Larry Singer, who describes his journalistic reasons for taking it:

“When I took the picture, which shows a crude hand painted sign warning that people could go to Heaven or Hell, and which ironically was located across the street from the Hillsboro Street Church of Christ, I thought the irony of the proximity of the hand-painted sign and church just had to be documented.

“After all, on one corner was a sign telling people they had to make a choice between the burning pit of Hades or an eternity with the angels, and right across the street was an institution whose primary responsibility is helping people make the moral decisions so that they wind up in the right place. I did not imply in the caption below the picture that the church put up the sign.

“My only goal was to show it was ironic that here was a sign telling people they have to make an important decision, and all they had to do was go across the street and the church would help guide them on the proper path.

“Little did I know, or even suspect, that the hand painted sign had been a sore spot for many of the church’s members for a long time. And taking a picture that showed the two signs near each other might give some of our readers the incorrect impression that the church was in some way responsible for the hand painted sign.

“When the picture was published, I was surprised at the controversy, which was generated mainly by people who belonged to the church.

“Now, people as far away as California have seen the picture, heard the controversy and added their comments. If nothing else, this proves that in this computer-generated digital age, a wide variety of ideas and opinions can travel faster and farther than ever before.” — Larry Singer, News-Times photographer.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 13th, 2008 at 4:17 pm and is filed under General, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.