News In NY: Do Not Distort The Truth To Fit Your Needs

News On TV: “They broke up!” a distressed wife wails. Or, “A man was killed in the garage.” The camera shows the body of the deceased, then rapidly zooms out to the yard, where the police are investigating. “The body was found not far from here.”

News On TV: “A teacher died in the classroom.” A mother of three drops her tray of cereal in shock, as she sees the open body of her son, still cradling him in her arms. This is the first update since his death, as it happens in the early hours of Apr. 2021. The rest of the story is then shown, playing out over several channels, with the same kind of fast-paced tension as if someone is about to explode.

News On TV: “A student was pepper-sprayed on a bus while walking home from school.” As the picture is aired, the words of the victim are shown in fast-motion, followed by the expression of the bus driver as he is pepper-sprayed. The caption then quickly shifts focus to Cuomo, the local news anchor, who is standing beside the bus and is giving her account of what happened. It is not until the end of the broadcast that we learn that Cuomo was pepper-sprayed. It is highly doubtful that she would have been aware that such a thing had even happened in March, let alone that it had anything to do with her.

News On TV: “A young woman died at a swimming pool in Connecticut.” The picture shows the dead woman’s body being pulled from the water. The caption then quickly shifts to Cuomo, the local news anchor, standing beside the pool and giving her account of what happened at the swimming pool, which ends with the words “and we will leave you now” (a.k.a. “and we will send you the obituary).

News On TV: “A man tried to steal the identity of a judge while in the court house.” The picture shows the judge’s head in the frame as he sits on the bench, surrounded by a cluster of people. The word used in the caption is “the judge,” which immediately reminds us that the crime had nothing to do with the identity theft but was instead about the fact that the person in the picture was attempting to steal the identity of a public figure. This makes it clear that the intent of the perpetrator in this case was to use the news image to defame the person in the frame and therefore defame the entire court system.

All News In NY: This news item from the New York Daily News features a picture of a man swinging on a lifesaver. After publishing the image, the article implies that since the man did not swing on the lifesaver, he must have meant to kill someone. The caption underneath the picture reads, “Video: Man swings at rescuer, misses, then tries to kill the rescuer again.” As you can see, the intent is not to inform the reader about what actually happened in the news but to sensationalize it. This is just one example of hundreds of examples that News In NY publications use during their reporting that should never be allowed back in print.