The notoriously right-wing anti-immigrant newspaper, The Daily Express, has come under fire after being accused of “whitening” a picture of the Conservative Home Secretary, Sajid Javid, to accompany a story about him questioning the authenticity of Asylum Seekers crossing the Channel on the front page of Thursday’s edition.
Javid, whose father Abdul arrived into Britain as an immigrant from Pakistan in the 1960s, cut short his Christmas holiday to deal with what the right-wing press are calling a “crisis” of refugees attempting to cross the English Channel into Britain.
However, despite having risked their lives in the precarious crossing, Javid yesterday expressed doubt as to whether they were genuine Asylum Seekers – a story which was gleefully reported by the notoriously anti-immigrant Daily Express.
However, in an alleged attempt to ‘hide Javid’s own immigrant status and ethnicity’ from their own readers, the Express‘ Editors have been accused of “whitening” a front page picture of the Tory Home Secretary.
And, when you see the Express‘ picture side by side with the original, you’ll be hard pressed to disagree.
Here’s the Express front page with their picture of Javid:
And here’s The Express‘ picture of Javid side by side with the original photo (as sourced here):
The view that The Express had intentionally whitened the picture of Javid was backed up by professional graphics designer Joe Dowling on Twitter, who stated:
“As a professional graphics designer, I can guarantee that that effect is not a mistake, that was deliberate and took time. In fact I suspect the designer deliberately overdid the job to make it obvious, as a subtle form of rebellion against a ridiculous request from the boss”
The row initially surfaced in a Twitter thread by Jason Sinclair, who also seemed certain what the Express’s intentions were:
I'm not saying the Express have whitened Sajid Javid, however the Express have whitened Sajid Javid. pic.twitter.com/ciPl3qiXDa
— Jason Sinclair (@jlsinc) January 2, 2019
Evolve Politics have contacted The Express for comment. They have not yet responded.
