Margaret Sullivan

Last week, after readers complained about a T cover featuring Julia Nobis--whom they felt was disturbingly skinny and young-looking--T EIC Deborah Needleman issued a response to New York Times Public Editor Margaret Sullivan. In it, Needleman mentioned that she had "considered adding some fat to her with Photoshop, but decided that as it is her body, I’d let it be." This raised new questions about the New York Times' treatment of photography--didn't the paper of record hold itself to a higher standard than to just Photoshop some fat into (or out of) a model with little more than a second thought? Turns out it does--but fashion photography is a different story.

While we see T as more of a fashion magazine, many New York Times subscribers probably don't. As people who look at images from fashion magazines and runways on a daily basis, we didn't give this T cover featuring Julia Nobis in a swimsuit and leather jacket a second thought--at least not for any other reason than the impracticality of wearing a leather jacket over a swimsuit. However, several readers--whose eyes are probably less accustomed than ours to seeing unrealistically thin people everywhere---complained about how shockingly thin and underage Nobis looked on the cover and in the accompanying editorial. Deborah Needleman, T's EIC, however, disagrees.