A posed team photograph taken by a photographer at the Carroll Daily Times Herald of the Carroll High School football players was digitally altered when it ran in the paper to obscure what the paper and the school deemed to be and obscene hand gesture.
Four players were blurred in the picture, three for making the hand gesture and one for behaving in a manner that editors decided was not "respectable."
An editor's note ran beneath the photograph, which had a cutline naming every player (including the ones who were obscured):
"The above photo has been altered to remove hand gestures displayed by four members of the team. While we considered not publishing the photo, we felt it was not fair to the 51 young individuals who conducted themselves in a respectable manner."
The three players making the hand gesture were suspended from the team for one game. The fourth player obscured was not suspended, the Omaha World Herald reported.
The father of one of the players resigned as booster club president in protest over the altered photo and the way the school handled the situation. Mike Bach said the gesture is not obscene and has been used by male and female athletes in other sports at the school, and is used widely by college players. The hand gesture is commonly known as "The Shocker" and it involves the middle, index, and small fingers and is widely known to refer to the use of the hand in a sexual act.
The Omaha World Herald quotes Ann Wilson, the general manager and co-owner of the Carroll Daily Times Herald, who said that the players' action "was disrespectful to the team, to us and to women, which means mothers, sisters and girlfriends. Why cover it up? I think young people need to learn to take responsibility for their actions."
"Any gesture would be considered inappropriate, whether it's a thumbs-up or anything," she told the Omaha World Herald. "If it happens again, we'd do it the exact same way." Wilson said she strongly opposed re-shooting the photograph, so as not to use more of the newspaper or the team's time and resources.
provided by the NPPA
Four players were blurred in the picture, three for making the hand gesture and one for behaving in a manner that editors decided was not "respectable."
An editor's note ran beneath the photograph, which had a cutline naming every player (including the ones who were obscured):
"The above photo has been altered to remove hand gestures displayed by four members of the team. While we considered not publishing the photo, we felt it was not fair to the 51 young individuals who conducted themselves in a respectable manner."
The three players making the hand gesture were suspended from the team for one game. The fourth player obscured was not suspended, the Omaha World Herald reported.
The father of one of the players resigned as booster club president in protest over the altered photo and the way the school handled the situation. Mike Bach said the gesture is not obscene and has been used by male and female athletes in other sports at the school, and is used widely by college players. The hand gesture is commonly known as "The Shocker" and it involves the middle, index, and small fingers and is widely known to refer to the use of the hand in a sexual act.
The Omaha World Herald quotes Ann Wilson, the general manager and co-owner of the Carroll Daily Times Herald, who said that the players' action "was disrespectful to the team, to us and to women, which means mothers, sisters and girlfriends. Why cover it up? I think young people need to learn to take responsibility for their actions."
"Any gesture would be considered inappropriate, whether it's a thumbs-up or anything," she told the Omaha World Herald. "If it happens again, we'd do it the exact same way." Wilson said she strongly opposed re-shooting the photograph, so as not to use more of the newspaper or the team's time and resources.
provided by the NPPA
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