Conservatives enraged by NYT Selma photo “cropping” George W. Bush

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Once again, the New York Times “liberal bias” has raised the ire of conservatives.

For the 50th anniversary of the march on Selma, Alabama, the front page of the Times ran a photo of President Barack Obama, his family, and a group of civil rights leaders at the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Cropped from the photo, but only slightly on the right, are former President George W. Bush and his wife, Laura. Much of the accompanying story was on the shooting death of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, even as local and federal investigators found the incident was not racially motivated and would not bring charges.

Conservatives noted that the picture – curiously enough – failed to show the full front line of marchers, leaving the Bushes noticeably absent.

While mentioning Ferguson and Brown 8 and 3 times respectively, the March 7 Times piece by Peter Baker and Richard Fausset only mentions the 43rd President in passing:

“Joining Mr. Obama on Saturday was former President George W. Bush, who signed the reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act in 2006, as well as more than 100 members of Congress … While sitting onstage, Mr. Bush made no remarks but rose to his feet to applaud Mr. Obama, and the two men hugged afterward.”

Among those criticizing the photo were Republican National Committee Communications Director Sean Spicer, who wrote on Twitter: “Suprise, suprise: @nytimes Crops Out George W. Bush From Their #Selma50 Front Page Picture”

Fox News also pointed out that the official White House photograph cropped Bush while prominently featuring Obama and his family. However, they noted the caption did mention the Bushes were there.

Michele McNally, Times photo editor, told the newspaper’s public editor, Margaret Sullivan, there was “no cropping.”

“This was the photo as we received it,” McNally said.

Photographer Doug Mills, who took the shot, explained in an email to the Times that Bush was in “bright” sunlight.

“I did not even send this frame because it’s very wide and super busy and Bush is super-overexposed because he was in the sun and Obama and the others are in the shade,” reported the Hill .

Photo via New York Times
Photo via New York Times
Photo via Reuters
Photo via Reuters