The picture caption on the back page of Tuesday’s sports section said, “Offensive tackle Korey Stringer … doesn’t seem to be enjoying the 90-degree heat and humidity” at the Minnesota Vikings training camp.
He was having difficulty breathing. An editor said he shunned a photo taken shortly before or after that showed Stringer vomiting.
Within 24 hours of publication, Stringer died of apparent heat stroke.
The Star Tribune’s story of his death reported that several teammates and other team employees had teased Stringer good-naturedly about the photo.
An assistant coach said, “Stringer was driven to make amends for his shortened outing Monday and was not flattered” by the photograph.
Some readers targeted the newspaper for publishing the photograph, taken by the Star Tribune’s Carlos Gonzalez.
Lisa Erickson, Eden Prairie, wrote, “I hope you feel good about yourself today. You just had to take a picture of a strong, professional and proud athlete experiencing a moment of weakness and print it for the world to see.”
Tony Spadafora wrote, “The newspaper, which is too sensitive to publish the nickname of the Cleveland baseball team, should use more sensitivity when selecting a photo to publish.”
Pat P. Brown said, “It’s why people are against the media. He felt like the picture was a put-down on his professional life.”
Beverly Klukow, Albert Lea, Minn., said: “[After Stringer died] the picture should have been nipped at the source.”
The photo, transmitted by the Associated Press, appeared Thursday in USA Today and on the New York Times front page.
Comment: As it sadly turned out, the picture had more news value after Stringer’s death than before.
Photographer Gonzalez and the editors who selected the photo are to be praised, not scorned, for recording proof of the legitimacy of a national debate on the civility of sports training standards.
Body Perks
Frances Sanford made the case for most readers who were turned off by the front-page placement July 28 of a story about Body Perks, a pair of $20 silicone nipples “designed to be worn — noticeably — under form-fitting clothing.”
She said: “The story belonged in Business.”
Andrew Beissner was caustic: “Is there any possibility of a front page follow-up that could link manufactured nipple perkiness with rising test scores among Minnesota’s K-12 students?”
Charles Schons said, “No wonder the story was on page one. One of the owners works for the newspaper.”
That owner — a Star Tribune advertising salesperson, who was identified as such in the fifth paragraph — and her entrepreneurial partner were sources for writer Kristin Tillotson.
They said 23,000 pairs have been sold since July 2000, and that Nordstrom carries them in 55 of its 70 stores.
Tillotson responded in a newsroom computer discussion to criticism from staff members:
“Reporting on products like this one, and all the attention and sales it has raked in, is not an endorsement, but a reflection of our culture well worth discussion. Sure, it’s tawdry. I find bobble-head dolls of sports figures equally tacky, but they have also made the front page as an interesting marketing story.”
Editors advocating page one display made two points: One, that other stories about Minnesota-invented products gaining national attention have run on the front page, and two, that other media might be doing a bigger story on the product as well.
Also, the Saturday Variety section, suggested by some as the appropriate location, had gone to press.
Comment: If the newspaper connection of one of the entrepreneurs had not been reported it would have been a mistake. The Star Tribune has been vigilant over the years in identifying employees making news, good or bad.
I’d have held the story for the cover of Variety or Business because it was a classic report on lifestyle and entrepreneurship.
