Atlanta, Georgia -
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution apologized to readers Monday for using a picture of Madonna kissing Britney Spears on its front page last week.
The picture, about the size of a postage stamp was used to promote a story in its Entertainment section about the MTV Video Awards in Friday's editions, but no sooner had the paper hit newsstands than the paper's phones began ringing, and ringing, and ringing with irate readers.
A larger version of the picture of the two stars in an open mouthed kiss accompanied the article inside the paper.
In Monday's editions, managing editor Hank Klibanoff apologized, saying the picture should have been inside but not on the front page.
Klibanoff compared the picture to graphic images from the war in Iraq.
"We ran images we otherwise might not have run. But that was war, and war was news. The photo we ran Friday was neither, and I wish I had limited its display to the inside of the Living section," Klibanoff wrote.
©365Gay.com® 2003
The picture, about the size of a postage stamp was used to promote a story in its Entertainment section about the MTV Video Awards in Friday's editions, but no sooner had the paper hit newsstands than the paper's phones began ringing, and ringing, and ringing with irate readers.
A larger version of the picture of the two stars in an open mouthed kiss accompanied the article inside the paper.
In Monday's editions, managing editor Hank Klibanoff apologized, saying the picture should have been inside but not on the front page.
Klibanoff compared the picture to graphic images from the war in Iraq.
"We ran images we otherwise might not have run. But that was war, and war was news. The photo we ran Friday was neither, and I wish I had limited its display to the inside of the Living section," Klibanoff wrote.
©365Gay.com® 2003
This article originally appeared on 365gay.com. Republished with permission.
