An Auburn newspaper has responded to the heavy criticism its received for using a picture of Ole Miss receiver Laquon Treadwell suffering a gruesome injury on its front page.
The Opelika-Auburn News has found itself in some serious hot water for its usage of a photo showing Ole Miss receiver Laquon Treadwell suffering a gruesome injury on its front page.
Take a look at the paper’s front page below:
Treadwell’s season-ending ankle injury occurred during the game-deciding play in Auburn’s 35-31 win over Ole Miss. On the verge of scoring the go-ahead touchdown late in the fourth quarter, Treadwell was tackled from behind, suffered the injury and fumbled the ball. Auburn recovered the ball and held onto win.
The importance of the play was the Opelika-Auburn News’ main defense in using the picture.
The paper wrote the following in an editorial:
"However, it was also one of the most crucial plays in a contest between two top-five college football teams. The picture is gut-wrenching. It also tells the story. That’s why we chose to run it. As journalists, our primary job is to report what happens – whether by words or photos. Often, what we write or publish is unpleasant. Regarding the photo, this was one of those instances. We did not intend to glorify Treadwell’s injury or offend any reader. To any person hurt by our editorial decision, we apologize.Our staff has already spent several hours discussing Sunday’s decisions, and we’ll continue to do that in the next few days. If we could redesign Sunday’s 1B again, we would. One thing we would do is use a different headline. We chose “FINDING A WAY” because after the game, numerous players and coaches discussed how the team keeps fighting and finding a way to win difficult games, such as those against Ole Miss, South Carolina and Kansas State.The headline was not meant to celebrate Treadwell’s injury. No true fan takes pleasure in the injury. It was a terrible ending for one of the best games of the season, regardless of one’s collegiate allegiances. Our newspaper joins fans throughout America in wishing Treadwell a speedy recovery. Our thoughts and prayers are also with his family."
Both sides of this matter actually make reasonable arguments. This was the most important play in an enormous game and the paper felt that was enough to go through with it. However, the picture is extremely graphic and the newspaper simply could have used one of the many other shots they had from the game and still told the story of the contest.
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