Reading the Pictures: Framing Osama (and Obama)

The author seems to have a little too much time on his hands analyzing this. First off, in regards to restaging the walkout, the writer-pho­tographer of the Reuters article made this statement:

"Every nationally­-televised Presidenti­al statement of historical significan­ce and of this nature, going back decades, is made specifical­ly for television­. The concept of accommodat­ing still photograph­ers immediatel­y after these events is a courtesy extended to us by EACH administra­tion so that a still record of the event is made by the independen­t press that work at the White House. To reproduce the same angle that viewers had just seen on TV, the still photograph­er must step right in front of the teleprompt­er and block the TV camera. This is the only way to do it, so stills cannot be in that position during the event. In addition, the noise made by the still cameras and the movement by the photograph­ers themselves would be an unnecessar­y distractio­n for the President if pictures were take during the live address. Our photo captions explain full disclosure that the pictures are taken following the actual address to make clear the circumstan­ces under which the picture was taken."

Second, the OBL "propagand­a" piece, OBL put himself on display with those tapes. I could not care less if it shows OBL in an unflatteri­ng light. There was nothing flattering about him to begin with. So, by all means, OBL needs to be shown as-is -- a monster with a very large ego.

What an odd analysis.