One Photo is Worth a Thousand Insinuations

Agamedes learns the benefits of a well cropped photo.

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Last week we had foot-in-the-door journalists from Holland. The police moved them on. The West reported the affair. Relatively low-key reports.

Today (28 Aug 10) The West has caught up with the news. Now The West has photos, interviews, more information... The story has moved to the front page.

It doesn't hurt that the "Last picture" of the dead woman has her in a bikini.

That "Last picture" is considered worthy of half the front page. Let's take a closer look at it:

According to the Dutch journalist -- now confirmed by journalists from The West -- Daniel Ross is listed by Interpol as being "wanted by Honduran authorities". Presumably in relation to the death of Dutch bikini girl Mariska Mast. Let's have a quick read of the first paragraph of the front page report in The West:

Dutch backpacker Mariska Mast, who died in Honduras two years ago, was infatuated with the Perth man now wanted for questioning over her unexplained death.

Actually, I have no problems with the report by Steve Pennells. He investigated, he found an angle, he reported it.

But look at that photo...

Mast "was infatuated with" Ross. And look! The photo clearly shows them getting up close and personal! Shirtless man, bikini-clad girl, very, very close. His arm is out of sight -- but behind her... probably hugging... perhaps even working on the bikini strap...

What an excellent photo! It clearly supports the "infatuation" of the report!

Or does it...

The story continues on page 23. Then on to page 27 -- where we finally get to see the actual photo. Take a look:

There are Ross and Mast, up close and personal. But wait -- there are two other people in the photo! Who are they?

Two more women. One is the "Shocked friend [who] breaks silence" on page 23. The other is unnamed. Let's call her X. All three women are leaning in towards Ross...

Is that body language?

Four people, clearly smiling, presumably happy. Three women, all leaning in towards the one man. Perhaps that's just what you do, to get a group into a single photo.

Ross is turned slightly towards X, away from Mast, just a tiny bit. Ross has his arm, loosely, around X's shoulders. The arm behind Mast is out of sight but -- judging by the shoulder -- it could be going straight down, to rest on the bench.

This holiday snapshot shows four people enjoying themselves. There is no obvious indication of Ross and Mast having any form of special relationship. Ross may, if anything, be a little more friendly with X.

Yet this same photo -- with careful cropping -- tells a different story on page 1.

No need even for Photoshop... I duplicated The West's cropping by using MS Paint. It's that simple.

Cut out the extraneous people. Show the part of the photo which supports the "infatuation" of the main story. And you have a great photo, with a thousand insinuations, suitable for a page 1 story.

One picture -- carefully cropped -- is worth a thousand insinuations.

Independent thinking & independent analysis of your problems by Agamedes Consulting. Support for your thought: email nick leth at gmail dot com