A picture is worth?
Sometimes, I really have to wonder about the Express-News. Today they’re doing a story on traffic that started on the front cover. I didn’t even start reading the text on the inside because I was stopped by a very large picture with the following description.
Bandera Road at Loop 1604 on a recent Monday. Traffic — and travel times — are on the rise.
So what’s your definition of “recent?” When I think of “recent” I think of a “recent” picture for identification purposes. Probably something in the last six months, a year at the latest. Based on the picture, I assume that the Express-News’ definition is at least more than seven years.
Why seven years? Because that is how long I’ve been living on this side of town and actually going through the intersection at 1604 and Bandera which during that time has alwasy included an overpass and heavy development on all four corners. You couldn’t tell that from the picture though.
Am I annoyed because the Express-News showed a dated picture of the area? No. I’m annoyed because it captioned it as a “recent” Monday picture. It’s obviously inaccurate which to me is simply the result of sloppiness and carelessness on the part of the Express-News. They didn’t have to say “recent Monday.” They could have just labeled the intersection with something about “growing traffic problems.”
But they figured nobody would care and that it’s no big deal. Like I said, I stopped reading the article when I saw the picture. This isn’t a little picture. It dominates the top half of the page, about six by seven inches. And it screams “good enough, doesn’t matter, no one cares.” It should make you wonder what about the quality of the rest of paper. Unfortunately, as long as they don’t mess the TV section (I didn’t even notice that it had changed) they’re probably right in that most of the Express-News readers don’t care.
Technorati Tags: Express-News, newspaper quality, San Antonio, Patrick Driscoll, Robert McLeroy, Newspaper photos
Filed under: Newspaper photos, Patrick Driscoll, Robert McLeroy, San Antonio, express news, newspaper quality
I have not been pleased with the format of the front page of the local rag. I think they are trying to get the “USA Today” look. Doesn’t work for me. Best thing I ever did was buy a home inside loop 410. Getting to old to fight the traffic.