Bringing Sexy Back to Disaster Journalism

Following last week's earthquake, the majority of Chinese online and print media were issued in somber color schemes, mostly black and white, and emblazoned with headlines indicating national togetherness in sorrow and silent mourning after the disaster:
















(Collage from Hecaitou, h/t Danwei.)

In a striking departure from the above, The New Travel Weekly-- a magazine out of Chongqing, a city just 160 miles from the earthquake's epicenter-- featured a couple of babes in bikinis, arranged in a pose suggestive of feminine giggles and the always-titillating whiff of girl-on-girl action. Its May 18th cover:




















The magazine's cover states that this special edition was devoted to earthquake relief (see the text circled in red). After hitting the stands, the magazine's president and chief editor were charged with "violating journalistic ethics," however, and swiftly relieved of their duties. (Via Danwei.)

Photo montages in the magazine's interior make the connection between sex appeal and disaster more explicit:










































(Images from Seesea.)

Note the blood stains on the clothing, the grimy (yet still fair and supple) skin, and the wooden facial expressions that suggest that these women are either fashion models or in a state of profound shock. The broken down bits of buildings in the background evoke the familiar imagery of the cities devastated by the quake.

Given that this issue of the magazine was published less than one week after the disaster that has so far claimed more than 50,000 lives, one might justifiably call these images tacky. Yet the larger point here is not that there are simply "good" (sympathetic, agenda-free) ways or "bad" (tasteless, agenda-laden) ways to represent disaster. Although my initial response to the fashion spread above is not a favorable one, it strikes me that in this era of disaster capitalism, a few pictures of skinny girls in ripped t-shirts and boy-cut underpants are hardly the worst thing that could emerge from the rubble. And as an American who has witnessed how sympathetic portrayals of tragedy can be used to drum up a nationalistic spirit of vengeance and marshal support for costly, unjust wars, I am far more wary of the power of official, "neutral" images printed the news.

Thankfully, it is difficult to hold anyone accountable for disasters of the natural variety. (Yes, it looks like Japan, Carrefour, the Dalai Lama, Western media bias and would-be thwarters of the Olympic torch relay are off the hook this time.)