On Fauxtojournalism

I want to give Alex Garcia at the Chicago Tribune an award. A plaque, a statue, name a bridge after him, something, anything, as a token of thanks for his latest Assignment Chicago blog entry.

This has become a must-read for everyone of my students. And I think maybe every student of journalism, everywhere. The thoughts are not necessarily new, but it’s so eloquent in presentation.

If your photographs can’t be be trusted because the underlying facts don’t support its face value meaning, then you’ve joined the legions of propagandists in the world. Congratulations and goodbye.

Go hang the pictures on a wall somewhere, preferably in a gallery known for conceptual art.

Just don’t call it photojournalism.