Accident victim gets apology forphotographs
Print Edition
A PHOTOGRAPHER whose captions misled the public into thinking a woman was blackmailing an expat over a road accident in Beijing on Tuesday has apologized.
A letter published in The Beijing News yesterday from the photographer, who was not identified, said he was deeply sorry for defaming the woman, surnamed Li, and for misleading the public.
“I used not precise or detailed but biased and exaggerated descriptions, causing Li to be put in the wrong, netizens to misread the facts and media to misinform the public,” the letter read.
“It is my individual act. My indiscreet and irresponsible report has severely damaged the news credibility. I would like to take any punishment and responsibility,” he said.
The pictures have been removed from the website of China Foto Press, where they were first published.
Li said the photographer had sent two messages of apology on the day after the accident but she thought he “should have been more sincere” because he didn’t reveal his name or his job, the newspaper reported.
Li said she hoped the open letter could help her to regain her reputation because many people from her home town in northeastern China had made phone calls criticizing her.
Li said she hoped the letter would gain the same exposure as the pictures and that the people in her home town would see it. If any of them told her that they had, then she could forgive the photographer, she said.
The series of pictures showed the expat’s jacket ripped and Li sitting on his motorcycle, refusing to move.
The captions read that Li fell when an expat was passing by on a motorcycle. They went on to describe the young foreigner lifting her up and the woman grabbing his hands and claiming she felt sick. They also said that medical checks showed she was fine but she still asked for compensation and that the expat gave her 1,800 yuan (US$295) to end the dispute.
The pictures were carried by many newspaper websites and news portals and went viral on weibo.com.
Initially, people believed Li was trying to extort money from the expat, and that it was just the latest in a series of rackets on China’s roads.
However, on Tuesday evening, Beijing police confirmed that the expat had knocked Li down. He also didn’t have a driver’s license and his motorcycle was also unlicensed.
Video clips, taken by a witness, also surfaced. The expat was seen swearing at Li in English and fluent Chinese.
The woman said she was on the crossing when the young man, believed to have arrived in Beijing from the UK six years ago, knocked her down.
“I have heart problems. When I heard him swearing at me, I felt so angry and went into convulsions,” Li told The Beijing News.
She explained that she didn’t let the expat go because she was worried she might have injuries she didn’t know about at the time.
Hospital checks confirmed she had soft tissue injuries and pain in her shoulder and ankle. Police asked the pair to settle the matter privately and the expat gave her 1,800 yuan, she said.
The money was used on medical bills, including ambulance fees, and drugs, Li told the newspaper.
“I am a businesswoman. I don’t lack money. I wouldn’t extort others for 1,800 yuan.”
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