Shame On LA Times: Newspaper Posts Racially Charged "Line Up" Photos Of UCLA Football Players

by Class of 66 on Sep 16, 2009 11:59 AM PDT Comment 46 comments

Bumped. Simply despicable on the part of the ~~Los Angeles~~ Trojan Times. GO BRUINS. -N

Those of us who write for a living know a very simple truth: The pictures we choose to illustrate our words are far more powerful than our prose. They set the tone, convey the emotion, and shape the reader/viewer's reaction.

When we are reporters rather than fiction writers, when there is a reality that we are purporting to present, minimum standards of intellectual honesty demand that we select images that truly represent the facts -- images that don't create a wrong or false impression, images that don't create a false reality. Images that don't create a false sense of the people about whom we are writing.

Images that don't border on inciting racial blowback.

That is why I was so upset to see the images used to illustrate Chris Foster's LA Slimes piece on the suspension of our four players.

Simply stated, Foster presented something we've never seen in the reporting about those who get in trouble at our cross -town rival, he presented a "line up array" of pictures calculated to make our kids look "bad":

Think I'm nuts? Let's look at the picture he used of Morrell Presley:

And, now the official UCLA picture:

Difference in tone? You bet.

Honestly, deep in your heart, and taking race out of the picture, which looks more threatening and menacing?

The only pictures they could get?

Uh, no. The official UCLA website has pictures of all of these players:

You think they didn't know about these pictures? They did, They used Viney's official picture BUT they cropped it in a way that is less than flattering? Knox official picture has a faint smile; not the line up picture. And, for Carroll, they chose a picture, like Presley's.

As a matter of pure presentation, one could have cropped the official pictures to present a more true image of the player without taking up more room on the page. Rant begins after the flip.

Three paragraphs back, I asked you to take "race" out of you interpretation of the pictures.

Unfortunately, in our society we have not reached a point where we are, in fact, race neutral.

Instead of moving us farther down the egalitarian path, the election of our first Black President has made more visible some of the latent racial hatred that we have yet to eliminate.

I do not play the race card lightly. Read my body of work here. And, know my life. I have never used race or difference as a way of justifying disparate treatment.

But, at the same time, I have to question why the Slimes chose to present these four Black athletes in this "line-up" manner when they have NEVER done it before with the white athletes at sc.Or here. Or anywhere. Do you recall a similar picture gallery of the sc players who posted and maintained that hateful website?

They chose to give the pictures an interpretation that does not fit the story.

How can I say that?

Because, no one knows what the story is. No one accept CRN, the coaches, the team and the AD. The alleged offenses have never been made public. What little we know is that there are no public reports of criminal activity. That CRN acted quickly and decisively. And, that those of the four who have spoken out have taken responsibility for what they did.

At a time when we are thin in our defensive backfield, and when our first string running back is out, CRN stepped up and suspended these players, all of whom would have seen game action.

THAT IS THE STORY. That UCLA has high standards of conduct. That we enforce them, to our detriment. And, that our players take responsibility for their actions.

This should have been a positive story. Instead, it was a vapid story with sensational photographs.

One last thing. I cannot wait to see what Kurt Streeter has to say about this -- Streeter who has seen racial implications in stories before (even when many others could not). Certainly, the man who defended Karl Dorrell and claimed he was the victim of racial prejudice will do the same for these four Bruin athletes. I can't wait.

sjh

PS. No, I don't read the fishwrap. It is not a part of my life. I only saw this article because a good friend called me, upset and asking for a "reality check". Unfortunately, we both saw the images the same way. I felt moved to write about my feelings.

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of BruinsNation's (BN) editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of BN's editors.

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Agreed

Either a hack job by the late-night editing crew (still no excuse) or something with more sinister intentions.

Guess if RN had simply had them run a few laps instead of applying proper discipline, they could have avoided the mugshot treatment.

If this had happened at $uc, the Slimes would have had triumphant pictures of “student athletes” like THUGaluga preening over their opponents.

Disgusting.

by bruin4life1993 on Sep 16, 2009 11:54 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs

What's worse?

That the LAT did this or that it’s not even remotely surprising?

by Ryan Rosenblatt on Sep 16, 2009 12:19 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

One only has to look at th size...

and placement of this article to confirm that the LA Times has an agenda. Four young players were suspsnded for a single game over unspecified violation of team rules. And yet the times runs photos of all four players with an article that almost takes up a half page? Another local program has both it’s football and basketball programs under NCAA investigation and you’d never know it from reading the Times.

Too funny. I’m sure Plascke and Streeter are already working on their columns condemning the “out of control” nature of the UCLA program.

by BillyZoom on Sep 16, 2009 12:22 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I'm still waiting

for the SUC Times’ investigation into the Bush/Mayo allegations. Surely there is a story there one way or the other, and it’s happening right in their own backyard. We’ll probably see that one right after they publish their findings on who the REAL killer was in the OJ case (Spoiler: it was CRN).

But seriously, they were scooped in their own backyard by Yahoo! Sports. I think that’s all you need to know about the quality of the fishwrap.

by Tydides on Sep 16, 2009 12:30 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

They used different pictures in the print edition

They used the official pictures for Viney, Presley and Knox (zooming in on their faces but not cutting off the chin), and they used the same picture for Carroll but also just the face.

by SuperBruinMan on Sep 16, 2009 1:07 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

The Times went out of its way to do more work

Using the official pics would’ve been easier to look up. Much easier, athletic departments usually provide these photos in multiple formats and sizes too — both in a CD and as attachments. They had to spend time looking for these photos (and to crop them the way they did).

This is very shady. And once you showed the photos 66, I connected the dots even before you said the word “race”.

by gilbert on Sep 16, 2009 1:17 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Shady

Is the right word for it. I think the questions 66 raise have merit to it

If the Times wants to revive its credibility (it doesn’t have any wrt to its coverage of local college teams) it would make sense for them to provide a credible explanation.

by Nestor on Sep 16, 2009 6:11 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Not that it matters much...

…but the horrible coverage of UCLA and the one sided over-coverage of $c is the reason I am canceling my subscription to the Times.

UCLA - Champions Made Here

by seernst on Sep 16, 2009 1:24 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

FINALLY...

Took you long enough

After being a subscriber for 10 years, I stopped.

I really am glad to hear you are doing this. i’m sick of people who continue to subscribe to that rag and yet complain with their mouth about the LA Times’ treatment of all things UCLA. I don;t just mean the athletics. Ask admissions if they appreciated the piece they did a a few months back. Ask the Matel hospital if they appreciate the articles that have come out about them. And also, regardless of how you feel about Michael Jackson, the Slimes even tried to pin his death on UCLA negligence.

I think the conspiracy stuff is a lot of BS, but what the Slimes has been doing over the years has taken its tole. I still hear crap about the handicap scandal and about Paus’ drinking. You hit them where it hurts, do not support the Slimes. Don;t buy from them, and do not advertise with them. Let them alienate UCLA, it’s their business.

by bruin 95 on Sep 16, 2009 3:08 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

We are OC Bruins

We had to stop getting the OC Register when they stopped covering the Bruins. Time to stop the Times

by Bruin Dad and Grad on Sep 16, 2009 5:33 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

here is an email exchange i had with chris foster recently

chris writes in answer to me:

“I wish I controled the photos and layout. I don’t. Stick with us. The bruins are getting better and I’m sure those inside my office will step it up.

Thx for reading"

here is my original email to chris:
-——————————————————————————————————————-
From: aol.com <@aol.com>
To: Foster, Chris
Sent: Sun Sep 13 08:46:19 2009
Subject: ucla coverage by the la times

Hi Chris,

I love your coverage of the UCLA Bruins, but i am steaming mad today when i bought my Sunday Times…there was no picture of the UCLA team on the front page of the Sports section…yes there was a HUGE picture of usc…granted that was the marquee
game of the day BUT UCLA also won a major statement game and the LATIMES treated UCLA like the Los Angeles Angels…LA’S OTHER BASEBALL TEAM…this is totally not fair and i left a phone message with the Sports dept to complain that i would NEVER purchase a LA TIMES again, but only read it FOR FREE from the internet.

It seems perfectly clear that the LATIMES sports section is the USCTIMES…

Once again thank you for all your great UCLA coverage…you are my favorite sports beat reporter, and i am glad you are back covering UCLA…

Richard

by bruincheerleader on Sep 16, 2009 1:33 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

In Foster's defense, not the LATs

He’s right. Writer’s never ever control their photos or layout. I know this the hard way.

The LAT is a lazy rag, as we all know, and has been for a long time.

by bluebland on Sep 16, 2009 2:49 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I saw the title of your post first, then I saw the pictures

The pictures themselves did not raise any sort of reaction in me. So then I proceeded to read your words. Even after your explanation I find it hard to see the racism in the pictures themselves, bad as they seem compared to the ones you posted, and the pictures themselves would not have prompted me to level any racism. Rather than the “tone” of the pictures as the problem, I agree with your point of whether we would have seen pictures of “white athletes at sc.Or here. Or anywhere” however bad a picture of an athlete may seem. Like you, I am not one to charge racism lightly, having been a victim of racism and stereotyping myself, being a member of an ethnic minority group who enrolled at UC Irvine during the 70s.(I found the error of my ways really fast and transfered to UCLA, which was really my first choice). That we probably would not have seen pictures of white athletes in this situation, I’m with you there and do concede racism at work in the LAT and appreciate the fact that you brought it up 66. I rarely read the LAT and never it’s sport section.

by brewnz on Sep 16, 2009 2:11 PM PDT reply actions 1 recs

I don't see it as racist either

The photos are just not very flattering.

I kind of wish there wasn’t this mystery surrounding the team rule they broke but it’s none of my business.

Do suspended Trojans get an unflattering picture in the paper? Also, with the things some Trojans have done and not been suspended for, why should the fish wrap be concerned with UCLA players suspended for one game (it can’t be that bad).

by layout on Sep 16, 2009 3:08 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I have to disagree...

Because of the horrid history that our country has endured, and looking how far we came, I think many only deem it to be racist if there are nooses and swastikas in the photograph. No so. The editors wanted to make these four guys look as menacing as possible (maybe they just broke curfew! Who knows what they did), so they picked these damaging pictures (pictures that every teenager has taken, esp. football players, in which they try to look as rough and mean as possible) that do not seem to depict college students…at one of the most prestigious Universities in the world! Let me know when the menacing Ben Roethlisberger pictures that accompany the rape allegation (which I do believe to be untrue) surface.

by westwood78 on Sep 16, 2009 5:21 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hmmm, I wonder why they took the pictures off of the article?

by westwood78 on Sep 16, 2009 5:26 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I still don't see it

When they run a menacing Ben Roethlisberger photo, would that be racist?

The paper is a bunch of A-holes for sensationalizing the story and picking out unflattering photos.

The kids are just black. It would have been racist if they had shown pictures of those black kids being white (however they would do that).

I don’t like how they did it but it’s not racist by itself.

by layout on Sep 17, 2009 9:56 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Did they run menacing pictures of Jesse Ward and John Hale

and Nikola Dragovic when their stories popped up?

by Nestor on Sep 17, 2009 10:03 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don't know, I don't live in LA these days

If there is a pattern of doing this only with non-white athletes, then that’s racist.

If there is no pattern, it’s just an A-hole.

My guess is that the culprit is more of an A-hole than a racist.

by layout on Sep 17, 2009 2:51 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

We follow UCLA stuff pretty closely

I know I wrote about the stories of Ward/Hale getting suspended and also about ND having legal issues. I certainly don’t remember such pictures of them being posted on LAT because we would have clearly taken note of it here on BN. This is a problem. There is no dispute at this point that they were being a-holes. However, until they have provided credible explanations the questions about why such racially charged photos were posted remain outstanding.

by Nestor on Sep 17, 2009 3:09 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

The LAT have a bias and agenda?

Surely you jest?? I’m shocked!! :)

That is why we cancelled our subscription of 25 years and go with the Daily News as our fishwrap.

I may work with the Waves, but I'm still a Bruin!

by HoozierDaddy on Sep 16, 2009 2:36 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Sad...

Not even disclosed what they did, get treated like this. Lack of professionalism is disturbing.

by Bruin'96 on Sep 16, 2009 3:45 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I just noticed they were bad, wierd looking photos

But they do such a poor job in covering anything that it is hard to ascribe it to a more sinister motive. Probably an SC fan staffer. It’s a rag.

by BruinAl on Sep 16, 2009 3:50 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Dude

That is bullshit. How dare they expose these student athletes to exaggerated infamy over something they have no idea about. That’s bullshit! Shoddy, sensationalist, and biased reporting. I’ll never pick that s*** rag up again.

f*** the TrOJay Times and the TrOJays

Troy will fall.

by Bruins102NCAA on Sep 16, 2009 4:01 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Absolutely, 100%, Spot On

No question about it, ’66.
I am, once again, dismayed but not shocked at yet another wave of blatent, ignorant racist “editorialism.”

Also once again, they are transparent and disgusting.

Objectively, given the complete subject of the story…why use photos at all? Head shot photos contribute nothing to this particular news item. I sincerely believe they wouldn’t have published any photos if even one of these young men had been white.

Love My Bruins

by Bruingirl83 on Sep 16, 2009 4:25 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Not sure about the racism angle

This is Sensationalistic Journalism 101. Anyone here remember when Michael Phelps won a bunch of gold medals [flash back to TV sportscaster center screen and in a small box above his left shoulder we see a shot of Phelps blanketed in medals, waving to the crowd, huge smile]. Now, anyone here remember when Michael Phelps was busted for weed [flash back to same sportscaster guy center screen, this time with a pic of a scowling Phelps with disheveled hair, looking away from the camera, presumably taken by a particularly rude paparazzo].

by LVBruin on Sep 16, 2009 4:39 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Necessary?

First thing I thought I when saw the photos was “why is the Times including photos of the players?” Is that necessary for this kind of story. Truly, the photos got their intended reactions and the times went out of its way to find these photos.

by apbruin on Sep 16, 2009 4:44 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

At this point, you have asked the most important question

Unless they know something that others aren’t reporting, it is not clear what triggered these suspensions. It is not a big story yet — unless more comes out IF there is really more.

They could have missed a practice? How does that rate big coverage????

There may be a story here. We all hope there is nothing serious behind it. But the LAT did not report that.

by Bruin Dad and Grad on Sep 16, 2009 5:36 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

They changed the picture

Troy will fall.

by Bruins102NCAA on Sep 16, 2009 6:16 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

On the radio this afternoon...

Tracy Pierson said that the violation would have no “legal ramifications” and that the suspensions were just about right for what the kids did.

But to look at the Times coverage… big placement and pictures of each of the players… if you couldn’t read the article you would assume that the four players were being charged with a violent felony.

by BillyZoom on Sep 16, 2009 6:17 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

That was my problem with it

I didn’t necessarily think it was racist, but it was clearly meant to make viewers reach a more sinister conclusion. Those are the types of pictures you use for either missing persons or people accused of actual crimes. The story here was that these four broke TEAM rules and would serve a suspension because of it. It seems only logical that a team related matter deserves team related photos, like their official pictures from the website, or like what they’ve changed it to.

by Tydides on Sep 16, 2009 6:41 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

It would be interesting to find out

the pictures (if any) the LA Times ran when the USC facebook scandal broke out (never mind all the other incidents involving (alleged) assaults, violence etc).

by Nestor on Sep 16, 2009 6:48 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Disagree

I agree that the newspaper shouldn’t be racist. But I can’t ascribe a racist intent on the LA Times based on the article and photos. But that is just me.

I also disagree with the conclusion that the “interpretation” of the pictures as “bad” did not fit the story. You are right, we don’t know the story of why the players were suspended right now. But can’t we conclude they did something “bad”, I mean they were suspended for gods sakes. They didn’t just put a whoopie cushion on coach’s chair. And if you have a story of players being suspended, and have multiple photos of those players—what makes more sense including smiling photos or photos not smiling.

66, it sounds like you don’t like that they included any photos of the individual players to begin with. That is a fair point, because it sort of makes it seem more serious than it might be. Fine. But it still doesn’t make it racist in my opinion.

By the way, here is probably where they got the pictures (though I am speculating). Many times, when young high school and college athletes are photoed for their sport, they strike a tough pose or a tough face. Why? Because they want to seem tough, firm, maybe even scary. This goes particularly for football, and I’m sure those who have played can probably remember such a shot taken of you (I can). Anyway, once those photos are taken, they are there to be used by whoever. And I don’t consider their use in this story to be improper. The players screwed up, that is the story – and the idea that there faces shouldn’t be used to identify them is a gift the players didn’t necessarily deserve, and certainly weren’t entitled to.

Anyway, that is just my two cents. Though I appreciate 66’s point, which is an important one generally speaking.

by rfirpo on Sep 16, 2009 6:40 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

GR8 ARTICLE

Unfortunately most of the town can’t make good sense of it over the loud noise generated by the bandwagon. As 4 the game this weekend, I think Brehaut will make some nice attempts.. think some people will be pretty surprised. Where’s Jeff?!?!

by AllIHadz240s on Sep 16, 2009 6:50 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Started a Skeptic and Changed My Mind

When I first heard this story I was skeptical that a reputable news source in a racially diverse city would be so ignorant as to make this sort of mistake.

After seeing the above photos that were used and the UCLA official website alternatives and then reading this well written article that fairly lays out what happened I’ve changed my mind.

At the very minimum the Los Angeles Times blew a small story out of proportion with it’s coverage and clearly elected to use the most menacing pictures they could find of these young men.

by Venice Beach John on Sep 16, 2009 7:11 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Thank you, 66

We are lucky to have someone so intelligent and principled to see this and do something about it.

I admired CRN’s adherence to discipline, even to the potential detriment of our team’s outcome this weekend.

I was proud of the comments of Viney and his mature acceptance of responsibility.

There are no words to describe my disgust with the newspaper that published this story, and that same paper’s history of “reporting” about the universities located in the city for which it is named.

greg in denver - UCLA guy for life

by gbruin on Sep 16, 2009 7:44 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I thought about this some more last night

I don’t recall pictures like the ones LA Times originally used for John Hale and Jesse Ward, when they were suspended by Dorrell few years ago. I certainly don’t recall picture like that for Nikola Dragovic when his story appeared last year.

I don’t know whether the LAT had racial intent behind publishing those pictures, but the way those pictures were lined up (and doctored) was certainly racially charged.

by Nestor on Sep 17, 2009 4:32 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

agree

Perception is reality. If you were to only look at the pictures it looks like a bunch of criminals.. rapist, murder’s.. something very bad. Racist? Maybe not but I can see how you could see that, looks like ap olice lineup. But most certainly totally uncalled for to post these. I hyope this causes other’s to cancel their subscription. I told my 98 year old granny who saves me the sports page from the LAT, to give them to the lady down the hall who has a bird, she can use them in her bird cage for the droppings.

by westwood12003 on Sep 16, 2009 8:44 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

Why punish the birds?

greg in denver - UCLA guy for life

by gbruin on Sep 17, 2009 8:56 AM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

LA Times: ANTI-DENTITES!

Well I can’t say that I am surprised at all by these ridiculous and amateurish chop shop type tactics.

There is definitely a racist angle in the article.

But it is not against African Americans.

It is against BRUINS.

Shame on this disgusting "news"paper. Not worth wiping my ass with.

But hey, what do I know. I’m just the 800 lbs bruin in the room.

by tasser10 on Sep 17, 2009 3:08 PM PDT reply actions 0 recs

I agree with both Ty and sjh

The ‘wrap has always had an anti-UCLA bias. That’s not news. So how do they advance that agenda? Anything about UCLA will always have something sleazy in it. Here, it’s pictures trying to show to its WASP readership base that it’s more of those hoodlum thug black kids (probably gangbangers) who are trying to do some typical black gangbanger thing.

Let’s see – this story came down as a major headline and story with pictures the day after it happened, and we waited something like six weeks for the first word about Timmeh and the payoff.

The ‘wrap can say what it wants. Its actions over the past three or four decades speak much louder. I cancelled my subscription a long time ago. I encourage everyone to cancel. I encourage everyone to tell the ’wrap they’re doing so. I encourage everyone to do no clicking on the ‘wrap website. I encourage everyone to boycott ’wrap advertisers (and make sure the advertisers know you’re doing so.

As much as I know this is going to be resisted, I encourage Nestor and the other moderators to join in the boycott. Totally dissolve diplomatic relations with that outlaw regime. No more quotes and no links. And why should we link to them or quote them? The consensus here is that they’re fundamentally all hacks, so why should anyone be interested in what they say? There are plenty of other people covering the Bruins.

Finally, I encourage all Bruins to contact Mr. Guerrero and ask him to take action, the most notable of which would be to tell the Trojan Times that they will no longer have a credential. And this is not for bad reporting, it’s for biased reporting.

by Fox 71 on Sep 17, 2009 8:47 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Got rid of the fishwrap

After 25 years as a subscriber, part of the time @ UCLA; I got rid of the fishwrap on Wednesday. I even watched the TN game with the sound off.

Thanks Fox.

by 10amla on Sep 18, 2009 10:17 PM PDT up reply actions 0 recs

Fox,
This is a post that really should be posted at the top. This will only get lost and perhaps even forgotten. If a mod can have this up top, that would be great!

This is exactly the direction Bruins nation needs to go!!

by bruin 95 on Sep 18, 2009 7:41 AM PDT reply actions 0 recs