TIME Magazine’s OJ Simpson Cover
While race evidently played an important role in the OJ Simpson trial itself, an incidence of allegedly unintended racism also entered the discussions of the public from another standpoint, when TIME magazine became the subject of harsh criticism for its OJ Simpson cover. In June 1994, the cover of the latest edition of TIME magazine used Simpson’s mugshot. It is unsurprising, based on the extreme popularity of the trial that Newsweek also happened to use OJ’s mugshot on its cover. The side-by-side comparison of the two magazines at newsstands everywhere made it very obvious that TIME had darkened the image.
The managing editor of TIME, James R. Gaines, released a statement quickly after the issue appeared on newsstands, explaining that “no racial implication was intended.” Additionally, the illustrator responsible for altering the photo, Matt Mahurin, later expressed that he was using his “long-established style to give the image a dramatic tone.” However, many people were outraged, as TIME’s choice to change the photo in this way enforced certain racial stereotypes, prejudices, and fears. Even if TIME had not purposely meant to be racist, the magazine’s ignorance about the potential racial insinuations that would result from the decision to use the darkened image showed how racism could still be prevalent in different forms, largely due to a lack of consciousness, even if not directly rooted in malice.
The OJ Simpson cover was not the only instance when TIME magazine became the subject of controversy; the magazine has used images deemed questionable by many for its covers on a number of occasions. Link 3 below provides more examples of some of the other controversial images that have been used by TIME magazine.
It is pretty crazy to see them side by side like that! OJ was not labeled with a race most of his time in the spotlight and while he was considered a hero- but as soon as he did something wrong, he was darkened as if to call more attention to his race. It seems like the NY times is pandering to white people more than African-American in this case- because as we know, the white population was largely against OJ.
ReplyDeleteThis is such a well written post! I believe that the TIME magazine cover of OJ Simpson really brings to light how much race was involved in the case, and thus how easy it was to steer away from the actual issue at hand; murder and domestic violence. As we know, the 'racial card' was used during the trial, resulting in the case being laced with racial tension, especially given the jury was predominately African American. This therefore meant that when the photo was released, it caused a huge public outcry, accusing the TIME magazine of intentionally darkening the photo to highlight his race. This was just one of the elements brought up in the case that distracted the jury from the real issue of murder and domestic violence. The case should have ignored all outside sources, including the media, and focused on the actual evidence to allow the jury to make a decision without considering race as a factor.
ReplyDeleteI recently listened to a podcast talking about the downfall of printed news. Once a news source finds themselves untrustworthy, they are quickly categorized as a tabloid. It happened to the Daily Mail, and now it's happening to Times. I think it's sad that news organizations have to do things like edit images, morph dialogue , and be either extremely liberal or conservative.
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