Philadelphia Daily News Changes Ferguson Cover Photo After Twitter Outrage

Yesterday, the Philadelphia Daily News tweeted a preview of the next day’s front page, its cover story about the Ferguson protests:

Tomorrow's front page pic.twitter.com/xwMvjGaTJI

— Philly Daily News (@PhillyDailyNews) August 14, 2014

But hours later, they changed it to this:

Today's updated front page pic.twitter.com/3kjwNnPrOA

— Philly Daily News (@PhillyDailyNews) August 14, 2014

So what happened? The paper itself points to the overwhelming Twitter reactions to their initial cover, which pointed out that the photo made it appear as if the city’s black residents, not the police, were responsible for the violence:

. @robcnagel @PhillyDailyNews it's a fantastic photo, it really is. I just think it's a poor choice because it misrepresents the story.

— rowdy ryan petzar (@petzrawr) August 14, 2014

@PhillyDailyNews Keep the headline, kill the photo.

— DEPRESSION SMASHER (@dj_mosfett) August 14, 2014

.@albertstumm @PhillyDailyNews please reconsider. It's racially charged and very likely to improperly frame the situation.

— Rob N (@robcnagel) August 14, 2014

.@petzrawr @albertstumm @PhillyDailyNews the cover is what leads to someone grabbing a coffee at wawa glancing at it to frame an opinion.

— Rob N (@robcnagel) August 14, 2014

And, in a rare moment when a newspaper listens to its commenters, they acquiesced:

Big takeaway from tonight should be that a bunch of pros with hearts & souls inhabit this newsroom @PhillyDailyNews

— David Lee Preston (@DavidLeePreston) August 14, 2014

[h/t Jim Romenesko]
[Image via Philly Daily News]

—

>> Follow Tina Nguyen (@Tina_Nguyen) on Twitter

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!