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Dear Selma Times-Journal readers,

On Wednesday night, many of you saw where The Selma Times-Journal posted a cover photo of a cotton bale on social media and the apology that I posted after removing the image.

If you have been following our page, you have seen us update the cover image regularly to represent the day-to-day happenings in Dallas County. Currently, the cotton harvest is in full swing.

The person who took the photo was on the road just outside of town where the cotton was harvested and baled and thought the photo might work well for our Facebook cover. The newspaper has used social media images, particularly cover photos, to document all facets of community life — business, education, agriculture, history — and notably, Black History Month, John Lewis and other acknowledgements of Selma’s important role in the Civil Rights Movement. You may view the gallery here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.705861758208473&type=3.

Minutes after the image was posted, however, I received a text questioning what was going on with a screenshot of the image. When I saw the image, I had the same reaction as many of you. At that point, I decided to take the image down and issue a heartfelt apology. The image should never have been used without context. We have put in place safeguards to ensure thorough vetting of photographs going forward.

While I may not have posted the image, I am still the gatekeeper and responsible for all content that goes out in the newspaper, on our website and on our social media accounts. So, it is my responsibility to ensure that this never happens again. Everyone at the Selma Times-Journal is socially aware of how our content affects the lives of others. I am still in the process of assessing what needs to be done to help us move forward to be a better, more inclusive community member.

I encourage you to contact me with any questions or suggestions by emailing me at brent.maze@selmatimesjournal.com or calling me directly at (334) 410-1712.

I am deeply sorry that this has happened. It doesn’t matter what the intent of the post was. It has brought harm to our community. There is no way to take back what has already happened, but I do want to find a way to move forward working together with our community to enact positive change through this situation.

Brent Maze
Publisher