SCANDAL OVER AUSTRALIAN POLITICIAN’S FRONT-PAGE ‘SHARON STONE MOMENT’
December 14th 2007 03:02
Canberra Times editor Mark Baker decision to publish a revealing front-page photograph of Labor MP Maxine McKew in a short dress has been widely reported throughout the Australian media.
The media reports state that the Canberra Times received complaints from readers after it ran the image of McKew talking to former prime minister John Howard at a function to officially declare her the winner in the Sydney seat of Bennelong.
Of course the media in Australia has almost universally run the story and some of also run a picture of the front page, with The Age in Melbourne showing the story(and photo) heading its list of Top Ten viewed articles.
The photograph shows McKew sitting beside Howard and, while it does not display anything inappropriate, suggests she may not be wearing underwear – but you have to look closely and use your imagination.
AAP reported that The Age newspaper in Melbourne “used the same photograph but cropped it differently, avoiding the problem.”
Which is a nonsense statement because the online image if anything accentuates “the problem” or zooms in closer to the, er, problem area.
Online news site Crikey branded the photo as McKew's "Sharon Stone moment", a reference to the infamous scene from Basic Instinct.
Baker expressed regret to any readers who had been offended by the image, while defending it as a "tremendous picture", and told AAP that, "It didn't occur to me that people would have a problem with the issue of the dress."
"It's been an extraordinary response from people…you can see a little bit more of Maxine's legs but there's nothing more than that.”
- From MediaBlab
The media reports state that the Canberra Times received complaints from readers after it ran the image of McKew talking to former prime minister John Howard at a function to officially declare her the winner in the Sydney seat of Bennelong.
Of course the media in Australia has almost universally run the story and some of also run a picture of the front page, with The Age in Melbourne showing the story(and photo) heading its list of Top Ten viewed articles.
AAP reported that The Age newspaper in Melbourne “used the same photograph but cropped it differently, avoiding the problem.”
Which is a nonsense statement because the online image if anything accentuates “the problem” or zooms in closer to the, er, problem area.
Online news site Crikey branded the photo as McKew's "Sharon Stone moment", a reference to the infamous scene from Basic Instinct.
Baker expressed regret to any readers who had been offended by the image, while defending it as a "tremendous picture", and told AAP that, "It didn't occur to me that people would have a problem with the issue of the dress."
"It's been an extraordinary response from people…you can see a little bit more of Maxine's legs but there's nothing more than that.”
- From MediaBlab
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