Hey Mr. Huston

(In response to Did NYT Flop Obama Photo to Avoid Hitler-Like Salute?)

Earlier today, an illinformed friend told the folks at ComeCheckTheNoise that The New York Times reversed a photo of Barack Obama at the Victory Column at Tiergarten Park in Berlin so that it would seem as if he was giving a "Hitler-like salute" (This didn't make much sense to us). We then looked it up and found that instead the claim was that New York Times was trying to alter the picture to avoid the salute (That was a bit more believable). The primary proof of this was the backwards Angola banner that an audience member was holding up.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2008/07/24/world/0724-OBAMAGERMANY_index.html

We felt this was a bit too blatant for The New York Times to supposedly try and pull off so the folks at ComeCheckTheNoise (being the curious folks we are) did some research ourselves comparing this photo to other photos taken at the event via flickr.com. The first photo found when searching "obama in germany" shows Barack at his podium which, when looking from the stage to the audience, is on the left side of the teleprompter. In The New York Times photo, the teleprompter is in the far left corner of the frame while the podium is cut off since it is too far left (no political pun intended). If The New York Times did indeed "flop" the photo then the podium would appear on the right side of the teleprompter in the altered photo.

In a second photo posted on Barack's Flickr page, Barack is indeed waving with his right hand (But hold on a second, Mr. Huston). If you compare the two photos (The New York Times photo and Barack's) you may notice that the man in the brown cowboy hat (to the bottom right side of Barack) is in the same position in both pictures. Furthermore, if the New York Times would try to prevent a right hand Hitler salute in their photo, why wouldn't Barack? Indeed, these pictures do show Barack raising different hands, but it is very unlikely that the two were shot simultaneously (notice the different actions in the crowd). What can we say, though? Barack is an amiable dude. He likes to wave to the crowd a lot.

Anyhow, we feel that this is enough proof to dispel any rumors about The New York Times and their supposed "Obama butt covering" (see original article). Looking at videos on Youtube of the Berlin event, there is plenty more evidence that can be found. The real question should have been: Why didn't anybody tell that guy that his Angola banner was backwards?