I still remember the picture of my father in a Danish tabloid. Coming out of a court house, having attended what I think was a hearing about an employee where he worked. The details about the case I do not remember. What I do remember though, was that this picture of my father was bigger than the text, and that the text underneath the picture stated something about, maybe "Henrik Larsen" having no comments, and then his title. Which was all fine. Except, his name wasn't "Henrik Larsen" or what the name was, and his work title was, as far as I remember incorrect. Actually, I think they thought he was someone else. Small detail, and pretty funny when you look back.
But back then, he didn't find it particularly amusing. Maybe he still doesn't. Which makes me think of the reactions from people who either have been misquoted, misrepresented or felt exploited by the media. It was obvious that the purpose of the picture of my father was to simply have a picture. Of someone. Anyone. Maybe a desperate act because time was ticking and the story wasn't really there. If this someone is famous, even better.
Brad Pitt is quoted on news.softpedia.com:
"According to contactmusic.com, Pitt has blasted the press for printing false reports that Aniston had lost weight as a result of his romance with Angelina Jolie. He says: "They look for the worst photos they can find, even if they're ancient, and manufacture a terrible story about her supposed loss of weight or something like that, and it's completely untrue. It's the most wretched thing I've heard in my life. I've never seen such cruelty, even in a primary school."
My father is not Brad Pitt, and certainly not Jennifer Aniston, but maybe the reaction comes from the same place. You feel like you are being used to bring the story home. Any story.
Overgangspaven (not verified) @ September 27, 2005 - 5:09pm
A simular thing happened to my dad. He sells fish for a living, and one day a danish minister of food issues, a very controversial lady, visited the big fish market where he works. For some reason the press found this extremely fascinating (it must have been a slow news week). The following morning there was a huge picture on the cover of a really big newspaper. Somehow my dad had managed to get himself in it. The picture showed my dad, the minister: Ritt Bjerregaard and in front, a really big cod. The headline said: “Ritt and the codâ€. A seamingly innocent headline if it weren’t for the fact that “cod†is danish slang for doofus, idiot or dimwitted windbag. Suddenly it was hard to tell wheter the fish or my dad was the "cod". Seeing that my dad isn’t in any way a public figure, this double meaning probably was unintended. But suffice to say my poor dad wasn’t exactly thrilled. He has never been able to live it down. It’s been 4 years and people in my hometown still refer to him as “The Codâ€, He’s gotten numerous framed issues of the newspaper as gifts, he’s gotten his share of “singing fish to hang on the wall†and he’s become strangely camera shy. He is forever identified with that picture. So my advice to you, the journalist of tomorrow, is to always check how your chosen headline interacts with the illustration or photograph. Sometimes a whole new meaning will appear and I think I speak on behalf of “The Cod†when I say that that isn’t always good.
»