(Credit: NYT, screenshot)
The New York Times unpublished “a post and a slide show about Haitian child servants” because a Times photojournalist lied about the identity of his photo subjects and failed to disclose a conflict of interest, according to an editor’s note.
The family pictured in the slideshow was that of Lesli Zoe Petit-Phar, a man who had worked for the Times’ photographer, Vlad Sokhin, the Times said. Petit-Phar “had been paid $100 a day to be the photographer’s driver, guide and translator — a so-called ‘fixer,'” according to the Times. The photojournalist, Sokhin, deceptively claimed that Petit-Phar “found the family.”
Petit-Phar complained to the Times over the photos, the Times‘ editor’s note read, adding:
“He confirmed that he had worked for the photographer, Vlad Sokhin, and he expressed concern that Mr. Sokhin had unfairly portrayed his family’s relationship with Judeline, the girl who lives with them. Mr. Petit-Phar was shown in one of the pictures being served a beer by the girl.”
Hat Tip: Margaret Sullivan
Did the photos lie or just the photographer about how he came upon the subjects?
The Times said its photojournalist lied about how he found the subjects and didn’t disclose who the people were. Further, the man whose family was pictured complained about the characterization of the family. Therefore, from what the Times has disclosed, both.