Friday, July 4, 2008

Fox News Doctored Photos: Here's Mine

Some of you saw and heard me discuss yesterday the fact that Fox News was caught doctoring the photos of its guests to make them look worse to the American public.

One of our bloggers found that picture of me that I was referring to, the one that had my friends wondering when my head grew out of shape. I thought I would put it next to another picture of me so you can see the difference. What they did to the New York Times reporters was even worse.



Notice the longer forehead on the first pic (and mine), darkened eyes, yellowed teeth (second pic), and widened ears on the second picture. Again, what they did to me was not as bad as what they did to the Times reporters, but it still has a dramatic impact on how the public perceives you. It's easier to believe someone is a deranged villain if their facial features seem out of whack and not socially acceptable (much of this reaction is subconscious).
During O'Reilly's five day tirades toward me (this spring and last fall), my image was matched with other images of me as an "angry black man", which caused many Syracuse alumni to assume that I was a black terrorist or something before they'd even had a chance to hear me speak or read any of my articles.

While these actions are problematic and patently unfair, the truth is that this is what we can expect from Fox News.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Honestly Boyce,

You look much better in the FOX picture than you do in your picture! The FOX picture shows you with a cleaner complextion, and doesn't reveal the dark circles and bags under your eyes. (unlike your picture)

Anonymous said...

By the way, I have NEVER seen those doctored pictures on FOX. Where did you find them???????

Anonymous said...

Whoever the anonymous person is above, you don't know what the hell you're talking about! That second picture looks terrible!

Anonymous said...

Wow Boyce, they messed you up on that picture!

Anonymous said...

Dr. Boyce, first time writer here. I really don't think the way FOX has manipulated your physical image is as important as the way they tyr to manipulate your messages. What is most important, as you have repeatedly exhibited, is protecting your MESSAGE. The people who will judge your intellect based on a snapshot are so disappointingly ignorant - that your intellectually astute messages would never sink into their minds anyway. Keep on standing up for me, for us as a people and for what's right and wrong in our black communities.

Anonymous said...

Dr. Watkins, I second the message of the person above me. We need you so much right now, more than we need Obama. He's running for office, so he can't do much. I am proud of the way you've stayed independent in all this.