Blog Removes Racist Image of Michelle Obama
One of the Internet news stories over the past few days has focused on a blog post by the apparently Chinese “Hot Girls” blog (sorry we decline giving that blog a link) that contained a blatantly racist image of first lady Michelle Obama — an image that came up high on Google Image rankings (high…like first place). Google refused to remove it themselves. And, so, there it stood: an image of Michelle Obama photoshopped to make her look like a monkey had gotten a high ranking on Google, it was on a blog, and Google had a disclaimer but left it up there..
Now, after a big Internet outcry, the blog has apparently removed it voluntarily.
But this story pointed to a bigger issue. When weblogs were created there was much talk about how blogs would encourage citizens to share ideas, foster citizen journalism, lead to great communication, clarify issues. The case of the image news reports call offending — can’t we be blunt and say it was blatantly racist in this case? — suggested that it was one more indication of how blogs have not lived up to their once lofty potential.
However, this incident underscored that there indeedARE standards and limits to 21st century rough-n-ready satire and ridicule, and the most respectable American conservative blogs would not touch that photo or condone it. One good example of the reaction to the image being removed is HERE.
7 Responses to “Blog Removes Racist Image of Michelle Obama”
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by AMERICAN WRITER and TMV, gforb. gforb said: Blog Removes Racist Image of Michelle Obama – The Moderate Voice http://bit.ly/6h11xo [...]
Have blogs failed to live up to their potential? Should we expect any means of communications to be better than the humans who use it?
From the printing press onward, every new technology has been used by pornographers and extremists as well as poets and statesmen. What blogging has done is made it tremendously more easy for anyone to have a voice. I think the benefits of that far outweigh the failures. But unless we restrict who can blog, bad people will, too.
“…suggested that it was one more indication of how blogs have not lived up to their once lofty potential.”
Excuse me? Sure, some people's idea of expression will be racist… or islamist… or socialist… or fascist… or cat obsessed… or whatever, and they might not so much break the bounds of good taste as jump up and down on the shattered fragments of decency whilst screaming bawdy songs. That is not a bug, it is a feature… no, more than a feature, it is the whole damn point of blogs: the blogger expresses their views directly to whoever wants to read them without anyone intermediating themselves in-between (such as an editor who can be pressured by shareholders or advertisers or the state).
So you don't like someone's content? Too bad. Either criticise it (as indeed you are) or ignore it, but if you were expecting the same old accepted sensibilities that dominate the mainstream media, then you clearly do not understand what blogs are all about. It may not always be pretty but that is what people actually do think.
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by TMV: Blog Removes Racist Image of Michelle Obama: One of the Internet news stories over the past few days has focused on… http://bit.ly/7QLGv8...
Yup, blogs have the potential to achieve lofty status, and that would be the desired goal for most folks who possess even rudimentary standards, but as we know, the medium is also shared by fools and social defectives. Glad to see the offensive image has departed.
The Chinese considering blacks as monkeys? I find that ironic because all people are monkeys if you go back far enough. I thought the Chinese were supposed to be smart? Oh yeah, Michelle Makin, what was I thinking?
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