Of a bikini bar and Miley Cyrus

News-Sentinel, Vanity Fair, both draw criticism for lack of sensitivity

What do the News-Sentinel and Vanity Fair magazine have in common?

We were both criticized this week for presenting offensive material with sexual or at least suggestive overtones.

Did we show a lack of sensitivity? Did Vanity Fair?

We'd like your feedback.

Here's the background:

Our front page story last Saturday reported the opening of a "Bikini Bar" in Lockeford. It was accompanied by a photo of a female bartender dressed in a bikini halter top and shorts, holding up a bottle of beer.

Business reporter Marc Lutz mentioned that the establishment offers food, drink and dancing, including lap dancing. He touched on the controversy preceding the opening, which included delays in obtaining the proper permits.

The business is operated by Timothy Kruppe, former owner of adult businesses in Lodi, including an adult bookstore. Those businesses, when they opened, drew opposition from local residents. And Kruppe ultimately prevailed in a well-publicized lawsuit challenging a city law requiring his employees to undergo background checks and fingerprinting.

Several readers complained about our coverage, and at least two submitted letters to the editor.

These were the key objections:

• We gave the story too much prominence.

• It was free advertising for a morally questionable enterprise.

• We exploited sex to sell papers.

Internally, we discussed at some length how to report and play the story.

Marc wrote the story in a descriptive way, telling about the atmosphere and food. He mentioned the fact that women would be dancing in bikinis and that lap dancing would be available, but didn't linger on these aspects.

Ultimately, we felt the opening of this business was page one news. It had a public and controversy prelude. It appears to be a first for Lockeford. It is operated by Kruppe, a fellow who has drawn a fair amount of public heat in the past.

We felt readers would want to know that this business had finally opened and what, in general, it offered.

We had a selection of photos from which to choose. Some were rather generic, showing tables and an empty dance floor. We felt the photo of the bartender in the top and shorts offered some idea of what the business is like — without being too explicit.

It looks like our hunch that the story would be of high interest to readers was on the mark.

According to a "most popular" index at Lodinews.com, the story is the best-read on the site, having been reviewed by 2,343 visitors as of late Friday.

Another indicator could be our Pulse Poll on Lodinews.com, which asks visitors what they think about the new club. The poll is drawing near-record participation; more than 800 readers have voted so far.

Did we try to play up sex to sell papers? Frankly, if that were our intent, we would have at least put the photo higher on the page to spur the single-copy sales in our newspaper racks.

On a related note is the Vanity Fair dust-up. The magazine drew criticism this week after releasing photos from its June edition of the 15-year-old Miley Cyrus.

Cyrus is the star of a Disney channel hit, the Hannah Montana series. The photos in question were taken by renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz. She has photographed many celebrities in her career, and some of her most notable images are of nudes or semi-nudes. Her famous cover shot of Yoko Ono and John Lennon showed Lennon, nude, curled up in a fetal position and embraced by Ono. Leibovitz shot the striking image of a pregnant Demi Moore, also for Vanity Fair.

The current VF photo spread includes one waist-up shot of Cyrus, her back bare and her breasts covered by her arm and what appears to be a satin sheet. It is described as "semi-nude" by most commentators.

The magazine, and its photographer, are drawing criticism mainly because Cyrus is 15 and the photos, to some, reflect the increasingly common sexualization of teen girls.

Cyrus herself issued a statement saying she was "embarrassed" by the images.

Disney's press people said, "Unfortunately, as the article suggests, a situation was created to deliberately manipulate a 15-year-old in order to sell magazines."

Leibovitz herself offered a apology, of sorts, saying she was "sorry that my portrait of Miley has been misinterpreted ... the photograph is a simple, classic portrait, shot with very little makeup, and I think it is quite beautiful."

News judgment. Art. Beauty.

Community standards.

So much, really, is subjective.

Did we stumble on our coverage of the Lockeford bikini bar?

Did VF stumble in its Miley Cyrus photo spread?

We'd like to hear from you.

Please send an e-mail to us as news@lodinews.com.

Or, if you are reading online, post a comment on this story.

— The Lodi News-Sentinel