Walter Reed Middle School or Army Hospital?

[Ivan Seeking]

This is too funny! It is like comedy central today.

This time around, the green that television viewers saw behind McCain was actually the lawn of the Walter Reed Middle High School in North Hollywood, the name of which can be seen faintly in this picture.

... And as for the use of Walter Reed Middle High School's image in the background? Neither the McCain campaign nor the convention organizers could be reached at the time of this posting. Bloggers suspect that the image that was meant to have been projected was the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC, which would have made more sense since McCain spent a good deal of time talking about his injuries in Vietnam.

The high school's principal Donna Tobin declined to comment about the use of the school's image, but issued this statement, suggesting that she wasn't happy about it, on the school's blog:[continued]

http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2008/09/john-mccain-acc.html

Edit: The McCain camp now says that it was just supposed to be a photo of Americana - a school and flag - and not Walter Reed Medical.

 

[Alienjoey]

Not to mention what looked to just be a green screen behind him during the closer shots while the school's lawn was actually in the background...The comedians are going to have a field day tonight.

 

[Architeuthis Dux]

I cannot provide an opinion on the use of a specific image in a political campaign. However, I do find it concerning that there was a mix-up between the Walter Reed Middle School and the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. These are two very different institutions with very different purposes and histories. It is important for individuals and organizations to be accurate and respectful when using images and references, especially in a public and influential setting like a political campaign. It is also important for individuals to fact-check and verify information before using it as part of their messaging. I hope that in the future, more attention will be paid to the details and accuracy of information used in political campaigns.