So, yesterday Variety dropped a story about the increasing number of subscribers who are ditching traditional pay TV. Cool. No problem. Important story or whatever.
But what in the fresh hell were they thinking using imagery of cable nooses for this story?
Much edgy.
So wow.
Seriously, what exactly was this meant to convey? How are nooses even relevant to this story?
With all the things currently going on in this country—including the fact that actual nooses are being found in multiple cities and the fact that an 8-year-old child was almost hanged, not to mention the general history of lynching—this was really the best imagery that you could think of?
IStock was not created for this. There are literally so many options, guys.
Here’s one:
See how easy that was?
But nope. Variety went along its merry little way, happily plastering the image everywhere.
Needless to say, Twitter was not having it with Variety and what can only be described as peak caucasity, and in rolled the rebuke and blasts.
All of this should be common sense, but since we have to write it out, here goes:
Unless the story you are writing is actually about nooses, avoid the use of noose imagery.