Oct. 28–Nov. 3, 2005

Image Conscience

by Mike Kanin

An accounting of the Washington Post’s recent photographic decisions

Washington Post editors no doubt take their jobs seriously. Over the years, they’ve thrown the venerable paper’s resources at the biggest breaking-news stories. Just by scanning an edition’s photographs, readers can get a solid snapshot of the day’s important issues.

Over the past three weeks, that meant a lot of newsprint face time with Harriet Miers. During that period, the Post has run a whopping 34 photos of the U.S. Supreme Court nominee. Also of import is infant panda Tai Shan. Despite fierce competition from the National Zoo, whose Web site boasts a “pandacam,” editors at the Post have managed to remain near the forefront of cuddly-cub coverage. That includes a Panda Watch feature and an impressive 21 total photos of the rare bear—four more than ran during the same period of President George W. Bush.

Here’s a breakdown of prominent figures whose stories the Post deemed important enough to illustrate with a picture, from issue dates Oct. 2 through Oct. 22.

34
Photos
Harriet Miers

21
Photos
Tai Shan

17
Photos
George Bush

13
Photos
Tim Kaine

10
Photos
Jerry Kilgore

9
Photos
Condi Rice
Tom DeLay

7
Photos
Ben Ladner

6
Photos
Jack Evans
Doug Duncan

5
Photos
Louis Farrakhan
Mick Jagger

4
Photos
Patrick Fitzgerald
Karl Rove
Paul McCartney
Ronnie Earle
John Roberts
Charles Ramsey
Mark Warner
Judith Miller

3
Photos
Bono
Saddam Hussein
Marion Barry
Michael Steele
Patrick Leahy
Jim Graham
Linda Cropp
H. Russell Potts
Arlen Specter
Cancer-ridden giraffe Jafari
Dick Cheney