Donate
J-Schools Canada
Facts & Frictions
Search site...
J-Source

Too revealing? The controversy over the Globe and Mail’s A1 photo of a figure skater

The Globe and Mail Monday A1 photo, which showed 17-year-old Kaetlyn Osmond lifting her leg in a revealing crotch shot position, sparked outrage amongst readers. J-Source has a round-up of the reaction from journalists and the public. By Tamara Baluja The Globe and Mail Monday A1 photo, which showed 17-year-old Kaetlyn Osmond lifting her leg…

The Globe and Mail Monday A1 photo, which showed 17-year-old Kaetlyn Osmond lifting her leg in a revealing crotch shot position, sparked outrage amongst readers. J-Source has a round-up of the reaction from journalists and the public.

By Tamara Baluja

The Globe and Mail Monday A1 photo, which showed 17-year-old Kaetlyn Osmond lifting her leg in a revealing crotch shot position, sparked outrage amongst readers. J-Source has a round-up of the reaction from journalists and the public. 

[node:ad]

 

Too revealing? The controversy over the Globe and Mail’s A1 photo of a figure skater

The Globe and Mail Monday A1 photo, which showed 17-year-old Kaetlyn Osmond lifting her leg in a revealing crotch shot position, sparked outrage amongst readers.

Storified by J-Source· Wed, Mar 20 2013 16:01:36

4 those who missed it MT @SylviaStead Photo on Globe front today is not acceptable in my view & readers. More later. http://pic.twitter.com/Z3lW1tmO36Scott Deveau
The Globe’s public editor Sylvia Stead reacted swiftly, saying the front page photo was unacceptable.
Photo on #globeandmail front today is not acceptable in my view & readers. More later.Sylvia Stead
She followed up with a column that day that said: “I heard from many readers Monday on e-mail, Twitter and by phone who were unhappy about The Globe’s front page photo of 17-year-old figure skater Kaetlyn Osmond, and I agree with them that it was not an acceptable photo for the front page.”

Read Stead’s full column here:
Public editor: Monday’s front page photo was unacceptableI heard from many readers Monday on e-mail, Twitter and by phone who were unhappy about The Globe’s front page photo of 17-year-old figur…
Public reaction was divided on the issue. As the Toronto Star executive editor Murdoch Davis pointed out, his newspaper ran almost the same photo on the Sunday Sports front page, but got no flak for it. 
Star sports front Sunday almost same. No fuss. Power of p1? Or something with Globe readers? #journalism #cdnmedia http://m.theglobeandmail.com/community/inside-the-globe/public-editor-mondays-front-page-photo-was-unacceptable/article9878975/?service=mobilemurdoch davis
Star exec editor @murdochdavis points out paper ran similar skating photo as Globe on Sunday, with little reaction http://pic.twitter.com/jCwr6LXVf2Steve Ladurantaye
Now that Canada knows Kaetlyn Osmond has a crotch, can we talk about her talent? Whole convo is just insulting http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/03/19/kaetlyn-osmond-globe-photo_n_2909683.htmlAngelina Chapin
@SylviaStead I think you are overreacting. My daughter used to figure skate and I don’t find that photo offensive. Just my .02 (or .05)Cheryl Lavoie
And the athlete herself responded to the photo:
Reaction to photo: it’s not a bad pic. It could have been better, it also could have been worse.I’m excited to be on the cover pic isn’t badKaetlyn Osmond
Toronto Star photographer Steve Russell offered his thoughts on the issue as a photojournalist. 

“I was there too, I have a similar frame, I filed it, I published it on our photo blog covering the event. I do not fault the 
photographer for moving it. It was the best picture from Osmond’s routine.  Since these manoeuvres are in every routine, photographers are more vigilant when we edit for costume malfunctions. I hate these kinds of debates. Where does the blame go? Photographers for shooting the picture? Photographers for moving it? Photo editor for approving it? Page editor who puts it on the page? Night editor who signs off on it?  Heck, the discussion could go the other way too. Are there issues with costume design? Choreography? I think that the real debate here should be over placement. Does it belong on A1? Somewhere inside?
Read his full post here:
Racy picture from skating? Figures. – Toronto Star Photo BlogSteve Russell – Staff Photographer – @RussellPhotos It is a testament to the power of the still image, Yesterday Twitterverse heated up o…
Perhaps the real issue was response time. National Post Comment Pages editor Jonathan Kay pointed out that Stead’s response to this controversy was much faster than her response to allegations of plagiarisms by Globe columnist Margaret Wente. 
Sylvia Stead: Weak on plagiarism, stern on crotches. “@SylviaStead: Photo on #globeandmail front today is not acceptable in my view"Jonathan Kay
Of course, Stead no longer reports to editor-in-chief John Stackhouse, so perhaps that accounts for the change? She now reports to the publisher Phillip Crawley. Read more about that in this J-Source and Toronto Star article: 
Globe and Mail public editor responds to questions of Wente plagiarism | J-source.caThe Globe and Mail’s public editor Sylvia Stead has responded to questions of plagiarism by Margaret Wente that were raised after a Media…
Margaret Wente plagiarism scandal a test of accountability | Toronto StarOnly two newspapers in Canada have public editors. I have been public editor of the Toronto Star for more than five years now, the ninth …
So what happens next at The Globe?

Managing Editor Elena Cherney told Stead that as an A1 picture, the photo of Kaetlyn was meant to showcase a young Canadian’s accomplishment at a sporting event, and to provide some fun and colour on the page. “However, the shot we used was an unfortunate choice, and the goal of highlighting Kaetlyn’s performance could have been achieved with a different picture. This will be part of an ongoing conversation in the newsroom around picture and image selection.”

mp
Tamara Baluja

Tamara Baluja is an award-winning journalist with CBC Vancouver and the 2018 Michener-Deacon fellow for journalism education. She was the associate editor for J-Source from 2013-2014.