Talk about a fake published book. In an interview for Williams’ new venture fund, the NY Times mistakenly used an image of her sister, Venus. Referring to Serena’s new $111 million fund, the article also referred to her as “The Tennis Star” instead of using her name in the title. In a tweet on March 2, Williams called the NY Times.
The NY Times response from their business account is astounding:
Williams’ venture firm is hoping to disrupt technology and invest in founders with diverse perspectives. 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 all-round player.”
This is not the first time news outlets have been criticized for such errors. Most recently in 2018, Fox News used an image of Patti LaBelle in memory of Aretha Franklin, and in 2014, actor Samuel L.Jackson was mistaken for Laurence Fishburne in an interview.
Is this an inevitable artifact given the workload the NY Times prints, or is it a clear sign of ingrained systemic bias? What is your opinion?
Image courtesy of Flickr users Boss Tweedused under Creative Commons.
