On June 27, 1994, following O.J. Simpson's arrest on charges of murdering his ex-wife, Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman, Time magazine put a photo on its cover that created instant controversy. It's the photo on the bottom right above and was altered by Time illustrator Matt Hahurin because, in his words, he "wanted to make it more artful, more compelling." The same week, Newsweek used the same mugshot of Simpson, but did not alter the photo from its original form. In response to complaints by readers and charges of racism from critics including the NAACP, Time did what no magazine up to that period in journalism history had ever done: they recalled the cover and replaced it with a new one, shown on the top right. Only mail subscribers ever saw the first cover; the recall camebefore it ever reached newstands. There were those who agreed with the magazine's decision based not only upon the potential for racism embedded in the altered photo, but on the broader principle that news photos should never be manipulated to change reality. It's worth reflecting on whether, if you were a reader back then, you might have gained an impression of O.J. Simpson's guilt or innocence based upon the original photo. When you look at the photo, what do you see?
