See front page pics:
http://media.collegepublisher.com/media/paper688/documents/5s9030vk.pdf

http://www.thetraveleronline.com/home/index.cfm?event=displayArticlePrinterFriendly&uStory_id=3a7c32ad-b4f9-41c2-a7e2-047b15eb6fb4

Photograph not intended to offend

By: The Traveler Editorial Board

Posted: 10/12/07

Because we have received a large number of letters and phone calls on the subject, the editors of The Arkansas Traveler felt the need to address the recent decision to run a controversial photograph on the front page.

The Monday issue of the Traveler featured several photographs from the Bikes, Blues & BBQ festival, which took place last weekend. Among those on the front page was a photograph of a festival attendee, identified as Adam Youngblood, who appeared with a shaved head wearing a leather vest on which there were multiple Nazi and Ku Klux Klan symbols.

Although many people have singled out this photograph in the past few days, it was placed on the front page in conjunction with two others in an attempt to illustrate the wide range of people who attended the festival: families and children, ordinary bike enthusiasts and those like Youngblood.

However, because of our failure to communicate this intent in the text that accompanied the photographs, and because of our failure to acknowledge the meaning of the symbols on the vest in that text, many of our readers were very offended by this front-page photograph.

We have received much criticism and a variety of accusations because of this photograph. It has even been suggested by a few misguided readers that the editors of the Traveler might sympathize with the beliefs symbolized by the patches on Youngblood's vest. So, let us make this very clear: The Arkansas Traveler does not support the neo-Nazi movement or the Ku Klux Klan.

What the Traveler does support is the truth, and we make every effort to report the truth to our readers. Obviously, in revealing this particular bit of truth - the fact that people like Youngblood attend Fayetteville's yearly festival - our method was flawed, and it led to much confusion and anger within the UA community.

For this, we would like to apologize to our readers who took offense to this photograph. Again, our intention was not to offend anyone and we sincerely regret that we did not present this photograph in a manner that made our intention more clear.

Some have suggested we should not have used this photograph at all. However, it is our belief that if presented in a better way, the use of this photograph could have been seen as a public service.

One of the biggest arguments we have heard against the use of this photograph is that it could hinder the university's goal of recruiting more minority students. We do not seek to deter these students from attending the UA; on the contrary, we have, on multiple occasions, expressed the opinion that there are too few minority students at our school.

However, we think when these students are considering coming to the UA they have a right to know that a yearly festival in Fayetteville attracts some attendees who are, at best, unfriendly to minorities.

While the vast majority of those who attend the Bikes, Blues & BBQ festival are friendly, law-abiding people, it is a fact that people who represent the groups advertised on Youngblood's vest are also drawn to our town for the festival. We think an attempt to hide this fact from prospective minority students is tantamount to luring those students to our school under false pretenses.

Like all students at the UA, we at the Traveler are learning every day. This experience has taught the staff a valuable lesson about the importance of seeing things from the perspective of those who will view the material we produce.

We hope lessons such as this will contribute to our goal of producing a newspaper of the highest possible quality. We also hope it can continue to teach future generations of student journalists at the UA. © Copyright 2007 The Traveler