Talk about a publishing faux pas. In an interview for Williams' new venture fund, the NY Times mistakenly used an image of her sister, Venus. Covering Serena’s new $111 million fund, the article also referred to her as "Tennis Star" rather than using her name in its headline. In a tweet on March 2nd, Williams called out the NY Times.
The NY Times response from their business account was underwhelming:
Williams’ venture firm is hoping to disrupt tech and invest in founders with diverse points of view. Serena said she was inspired to invest in tech startups after hearing that less than two percent of venture money goes to women. In a recent CNBC interview, Williams expressed: “The venture capital ecosystem really needs an inclusive player.”
This is not the first time that news outlets have been called out for such mistakes. As recently as 2018, Fox News used an image of Patti LaBelle in its tribute to Aretha Franklin, and in 2014, actor Samuel L. Jackson was mistaken for Laurence Fishburne in an interview.
Was this an inevitable faux pas with the volume of work the NY Times prints or a clear sign of ingrained systemic bias? What are your thoughts?
Lead image by Flickr user Boss Tweed, used under Creative Commons.
Good for Serena! It's about time some celebrities called out the New York times for such irresponsible journalism. This isn't the first incident of irresponsible reporting. Maybe this will prompt them to be more critical and cautious about the things they publish.
Agreed. And the apology sounded nothing like an apology "we got it right online". I loved Serena's reaponse
It would probably be mildly annoying to be mistaken for your sister, but not the end of the world.
I have an identical twin, but I never acted like one and we live an ocean away from each other. I had once a frozen shoulder and my brother had one within days but that's the only freaky thing we ever had our whole lives.
If you are an identical twin, it's very expectable for people to mix you with the other and you live with it. I'm thinking she has one of those air mattress plug on her head somewhere and she should let some air out.
How dare could people confuse me for looking identical to my brother! LOL I mean don't they know one of us is much better and has more money than the other! Now that's a real freak show for sure.
They aren't identical twins. Venus is a year older than Serena.
For sure, siblings can look similar, but not to the point that you can't tell them apart. It's just shoddy work from the NYT.
Not twins, then it's my bad always assumed they were, but I don't follow tennis for quite many decades. Nevertheless, I have no interest in the life of the rich and famous crying for a NYT mistake that turns out to be free advertising in the end.
By the way, it's Zelenskyy not Zelensky...
Is this newsworthy? Really?
Venus and Serena are quite different. I was on a stringing team at a tournament that Venus was playing (I owned a tennis shop and was asked to join the stringing team). She visited the stringing room every day. She was very nice and after she won the tournament, she invited the stringers to her little victory celebration. Serena's personality is not like Venus. It sure does show how little research was done or proofing was done after the story was written. The newspaper of record? Yea, right!
I had the pleasure to have her behind my lens. Actually the first image she released post pregnancy was my shot. She is a woman that has worked very hard to build her name. I agree with your sentiment about her
Ya' gotta' give her props. Most dominating player in the WTA. It's a shame her temper got the best of her a couple of times. You have to be quite proud that your image made it to the top!
Why does Michelle VanTine find the response “underwhelming”? What is expected more than an excuse? Close the business? Pay for moral damages? Kiss her feet? Come on!
Why is the media so eager the push the offended card?
I find the verbiage "it did not appear online" a terrible reply. As if they wanted a gold star for not putting the wrong person's image online. I think a "we apologize" would be a good starting point
I could see her getting pissed if they used a picture of Ted Cruz or Groucho Marx. But confusing 2 tennis-star sisters sounds as harmless as substituting orange juice for grapefruit