Last week, a Free Press reporter asked several editors if some of the images of Red Wings and Pistons fans were stereotypes. He asked because people outside the newspaper questioned him about what they thought was the newspaper’s portrayal of white-only Wings fans.
What he was referring to was the April 15 Wing Nuts photo page in which all 17 fans were white. There was gender and age diversity, but not racial.
Then came the 1A “Fandemonium” illustration on April 27, of a white Wings fan and a black Pistons fan. And on several Free Press front pages since then, images of two white fans have represented the collective faces of Pistons and Red Wings followers.
The Wing Nuts idea, according to Nancy Andrews, director of photography at the Free Press, wasn’t meant to represent all Wings fans, just the fanatical ones who attend games at the Joe.
“You’ll notice these are not typical fans,” Andrews said of chief photographer J. Kyle Keener’s composition.
“In striving for diversity, we also strive for accuracy,” said Andrews. “The fan base for those who attend games at the Joe is not a racially diverse crowd, and to portray it another way would be not factual. We are not saying Wings fans aren’t diverse.”
Andrews pointed out a March 18 photo page about Latino, black and white youths learning and playing hockey at Clark Park in Detroit. Those photos and the accompanying article depicted a broader diversity that’s reflective of our community.
The use of fan photos on the front page to help readers spot playoff coverage was developed as the excitement for the teams has grown. At the start, Keener was not looking for ordinary fans; he was looking for those who you might say are nuts over the Wings. Keener walked through the stands at the Joe to find them.
“My entire career, I’ve striven for diversity, fairness and accuracy in my photographs,” said Keener. “In the hundreds of thousands of photographs that I have taken over the years, being true and fair in my visual reporting has always been my highest priority.”
What’s in the Free Press, if you look closely at the images, is a commitment to reflect where we live, inclusive of race, gender, age and the expansive geography of metro Detroit.
In our excitement over the Red Wings and Pistons playoff runs, we haven’t lost sight of accuracy, diversity, fairness and news.
