Letter to the editor – Nov. 10, 2011
Hi there,
As I was walking through the halls of U of R today, I noticed the Carillon's cover consisted of a photograph of a First Nations boy playing in the sandbox with a sort of uncomfortable look on his face. I feel this choice of photograph was a poor selection by the editor for a few reasons.
First, when children have their photo in the newspaper, they normally have a sense of pride as it is usually for something positive that specifically has to do with them, e.g. sports or school activities.
As well, the article the photo is connected to (“Beyond the shocking headlines,” Oct. 27) is about North Central, where this particular child may live, but I'm sure he is not directly involved in any troubles the neighborhood may have.
Imagine you are the parent of this particular child and you have to explain how his picture is connected to this article. Imagine how he would feel.
As a parent myself, I can only empathize with this boy's parents. Personally, I would have to prepare myself and choose my words carefully if this picture were of my daughter and she saw it. Obviously the discomfort the boy is feeling is most likely coming from having his picture taken by the photographer. Next time, please consider his feelings before publishing something like this.
When I opened up the newspaper I noticed another photo containing more images of children. Once again, I do have concerns about these children and what kind of consent you may have required to even print the images.
Sincerely,
Tracy Kovalench
[Tracy, thanks for writing in. The only thing we want to address is the issue of consent. The Carillon takes the safety and privacy of children very seriously. Arthur Ward, our photographer for this article, requested and received consent from the children’s parents, who were present. The photos took place with parents nearby. –Ed.]
