The front-page story (sub. req.) in today’s paper is about the shooting at the Grand Prairie skating rink. Accompanying the story is the photo you see here, run large enough that it extended below the fold. The caption reads: “An employee of Aftermath, Inc, a crime scene and trauma cleanup service, works at the Forum Roller World in Grand Prairie after Saturday night’s shooting rampage.”
Am I the only one who thinks that running this photo is this fashion was a bad call? Five people are gunned down at an 11-year-old’s birthday party. Their blood is still on the floor. A man in a hazmat suit is cleaning up that unspeakable mess, and you catch him with the joyful “Happy Birthday” sign as background. It’s a striking picture. But does it belong on the front page of the newspaper? To me, the picture feels appropriate for a DVD box set of Dexter, but not a front-page news story.
