Reuters Explains Bush Bathroom Note

[CBGLuthier]

http://www.pdnonline.com/pdn/newswire/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001137642


But a few hours later, he started to wonder about a note that Bush was seen writing in three of the pictures. Out of curiosity, he zoomed in to see if he could read it.

Once he saw what it said, Hershorn decided the note was interesting and worth publishing. The white parts of the picture were overexposed, so a Reuters processor used Photoshop to burn down the note. This is a standard practice for news photos, Hershorn says, and the picture was not manipulated in any other way.

Around 4:30 p.m., Reuters transmitted two versions of the photo, including one that was tightly cropped around the note and Bush's hand.

[tocqueville]

1. another link on the story

http://www.gelfmagazine.com/mt/archives/bushs_bathroom_break_the_photographer_speaks.html

Yes, the note is real. And yes, the president really wrote it. “It was shot at a pretty good distance,” Wilking tells Gelf. “I had no idea what was on the paper.” Until, that is, the editors at Reuters enlarged it. “I was just as surprised as you,” Wilking says.

Wilking has a long history of photographing Bush. He covered his campaign for Reuters, and even spent time working on the White House staff as a photographer. But he has not yet heard from the president—whom he says he knows very well—about the note. “I’m curious to know what the White House thinks,” Wilking says, but adds that he is not worried about getting into any sort of trouble about the picture.

Perhaps one reason Wilking is not afraid is that he just underwent one of the more Hellish weeks in American history. In his account of his time in New Orleans for Reuters, Wilking describes the scenes of death and violence that he encountered in the days after the hurricane but before the National Guard restored order. “It was bordering on total anarchy,” says Wilking. “The bad guys were taking advantage. They sensed blood in the water,” he adds, saying that the scene reminded him of covering the war in Haiti.

When Wilking finally did leave, he, along Getty Images photographer Mark Wilson, helped to evacuate five people from the area, including a man paralyzed by Parkinson’s disease (Editor&Publisher). While many of Wilking’s photos documenting the aftermath of Katrina were lost when his gear was stolen from his car in New Orleans, he did manage to upload several sad and captivating images.

[aint_no_life_nowhere]

3. Was it a photo or part of a videotape?

If it was videotape (there was part of a video of Bush's appearance at the UN on the Reuters site yesterday), then perhaps there are other shots of the completion of the note to see what else Bush wrote.

[tocqueville]

6. I think it's both but independently

From other posts and links I gather that the photo was taken by Wilking, but it was a lucky shot it's only afterwards they made the discovery

BuT I think there is a video of the meeting, and you can see when Bush raises and is replaced by Condi.

I think it's possible to reconstruct the whole chain of events...

[Wickerman]

4. "he is not worried about getting into any sort of trouble"

I am frightened that this would even be a consideration in a free country. Can you imagine those words being written before Bush**? Nope, me neither, now common place sentiment.

[rzemanfl]

2. I want them to explain the following:

1. Why a 59 year-old man is NOT SURE whether he has to go.
2. Why someone who thinks he doesn't need the U.N.'s permission to START A FUCKING WAR thinks he needs it to go to the john.

[tocqueville]

7. Maybe it's code

"I've just started a nukular war, I need to get to the shelter"

[crispini]

5. That is outrageously funny.

Thanks for the laugh.

[sundancekid]

8. wonder where he got 'em manners ... oh, yea, Babs, queen of pearls/swines

[marions ghost]

9. do we know

if he was ever allowed to go?

[emulatorloo]

10. I am so kicking and nominating this

:kick: