Globe Public editor: Setting the record straight on an upside-down jet

By Sylvia Stead, Public Editor for The Globe and Mail

Many corrections and clarifications that the Globe runs are pretty straightforward. A wrong name or title, an incorrect number or calculation, last week Globe editors heard from a number of readers who were puzzled by what seemed to be an upside-down photo of a Bombardier jet.

By Sylvia Stead, Public Editor for The Globe and Mail

Many corrections and clarifications that the Globe runs are pretty straightforward. A wrong name or title, an incorrect number or calculation, last week Globe editors heard from a number of readers who were puzzled by what seemed to be an upside-down photo of a Bombardier jet.

As often happens, a few of the letter writers used humour to gently wonder what was going on. “On reflection, the accompanying photo of the Bombardier jet is up-side-down,” one wrote. Another wrote; “ The picture of the business jet on page B3 (“Battle for business-jet supremacy”, 6th August) was upside down. Looking at the puddles, and on reflection, perhaps it was a plane mistake.”

In fact, it wasn’t a mistake. It was done deliberately. The problem was, the photo cutline failed to include the readers on that insight. The photo information came from the Reuters wire saying: “Visitors view a Gulfstream G3 business jet, produced by Gulfstream Aerospace, at the Farnborough Airshow in Farnborough July 22, 2010. Image has been rotated 180 degrees.” The caption didn’t say the photo was rotated. To my eye, it makes a much more interesting shot upside down with the puddles on top and a very clear reflection of the plane top and bottom.

This column appeared on theglobeandmail.com originally and was republished here with the author's permission. To continue reading, please click here.

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