To The Editor,
Last week I clicked on The Herald article “R.I. sues Meta, alleging company profited from scam advertising, failed to protect users.” At the top of the page, an illustration of what appears to me to be sinister-looking Meta executives making money off the little guy took up my entire screen. I did a double take and had to make sure I wasn’t reading an opinion article. No, I wasn’t hallucinating — this was, in fact, a news article.
The piece covers a state lawsuit against Meta for allegedly profiting “from failing to protect app users against scam advertisements.” In addition, reading further in the article, the lawsuit’s accusations against the company have not been ruled on yet. I have no issues with the article itself. But the illustration at the top of the page felt out of place. While this type of artwork makes sense for articles in the opinions section, it has no place in a newsroom that strives to provide objective reporting.
Readers could see this image before reading the article and come to the incorrect conclusion that Meta had already been found guilty of profiting from these scams. Worse, readers could assume that The Herald has a bias against Meta and wishes for a certain outcome in the lawsuit. I hope more attention is given to which illustrations are used in news articles in the future.
Sincerely,
Ethan Canfield ’28
Ethan Canfield ’28 can be reached at ethan_canfield@brown.edu. Please send responses to this letter to letters@browndailyherald.com and other opinions to opinions@browndailyherald.com.
Ethan Canfield is the head of the Editorial Page Board and an opinions editor. He previously was a columnist and a copy editor for the Herald. He is a junior from Houston, Texas and is studying Applied Mathematics-Biology.
