Above: My cameras in the St. George courtroom during the trial of FLDS leader Warren Jeffs, 2007.

There was a lot of comment on Brooke’s polygamy blog about the Weekly World News’ Bat Boy courtroom photo from the other night. One of my responses was so long I figured I’d post it here:

Remember, I’m not out to justify or demonize the doctored photo that appeared in the Weekly World News. It’s not my work so I don’t have to stand up for it. But it’s obvious, from your comments here, how much it means to some of you out there.

I talked to the photographer who took the photo last night. He works for an agency whose photos go all over the world and he had no knowledge that his photo had been doctored. I can’t really quote him further, but the matter is being looked into.

I’ll tell you why the photo caught my interest. I sat in that courtroom for multiple court hearings and the two week trial of Warren Jeffs. I sat in the same chair that photo was taken from for many hours, looking over at the defense table while covering a story of huge historical importance to the FLDS faith and the world of the principle. That scene with Warren is burned into my personal memory.

As a young boy I would occasionally pick up the Weekly World News at the grocery checkout and see what crazy headlines they had each week. It was always something ridiculous and amusing, like the story of the cannibal food critic who rated the people he had eaten based on their nationalities, or reports of Elvis being spotted alive. As FTTC commented, juvenile might be the right word for this type of comedy. It’s truly absurd stuff, for sure.

I remember picking up the 1992 issue where they “reported” the discovery of Bat Boy in a West Virginia cave. Many Bat Boy articles followed in later editions.

So I stumbled on a series of Bat Boy articles published by the Weekly World News the other night. I clicked on a headline about Bat Boy suing Batman in a paternity fight (absurd, right?). The story came up and I saw the photo of the Warren Jeffs courtroom. What is Wally Bugden doing in a photo for a Bat Boy story? I thought. And then I noticed that they had put Bat Boy’s head onto a person that the FLDS call a prophet of God.

At that moment, two elements of my life that couldn’t be further apart came together in a very strange way. And that’s how I wrote it up in my blog post.

Go back and re-read my post. I never offered an opinion. I never said it was funny. I called the story about Bat Boy suing Batman “comic fiction.” (Batman is in comic books.)

I do find it an absurd coincidence that they used that photograph from that specific courtroom. I don’t personally think those wacky tabloid editors in Florida picked that photo just to offend the FLDS, even though it does offend them. Maybe I’m wrong and they did it on purpose.

Your opinions are all valid and I find them interesting to follow. I just wanted to give you more information on how this all started.