The New York Times - USA (2020-10-25)

INVESTING INNOVATION JOBS SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2020

2 WITH INTEREST

The Brooklyn Museum is selling off some notable art

to help it weather the pandemic. BY CHARLOTTE COWLES

3 SCRATCH

What’s on Pennsylvanians’ minds? Not pocketbook

issues, it would seem. BY JULIA ROTHMAN AND SHAINA FEINBERG

4 RETIRING

Retail moves out, retirees move in, as former mall

sites are repurposed for senior housing. BY JOHN F. WASIK

In early September, the City Council in Port-
land, Ore., met virtually to consider sweep-
ing legislation outlawing the use of facial
recognition technology. The bills would not
only bar the police from using it to unmask
protesters and individuals captured in sur-
veillance imagery; they would also prevent
companies and a variety of other organiza-

tions from using the software to identify an

unknown person.

During the time for public comments, a

local man, Christopher Howell, said he had

concerns about a blanket ban. He gave a

surprising reason.

“I am involved with developing facial rec-

ognition to in fact use on Portland police of-

ficers, since they are not identifying them-

selves to the public,” Mr. Howell said. Over

the summer, with the city seized by demon-

strations against police violence, leaders of

the department had told uniformed officers

that they could tape over their name. Mr.

Howell wanted to know: Would his use of

facial recognition technology become

illegal?

Portland’s mayor, Ted Wheeler, told Mr.

Howell that his project was “a little creepy,”

but a lawyer for the city clarified that the

bills would not apply to individuals. The

Council then passed the legislation in a

unanimous vote.

Mr. Howell was offended by Mr. Wheel-

er’s characterization of his project but re-

lieved he could keep working on it. “There’s

a lot of excessive force here in Portland,” he

said in a phone interview. “Knowing who

the officers are seems like a baseline.”

Turning Facial Recognition Tools Against the Police

By KASHMIR HILL Activists around the

world hope to use

the technology to

digitally unmask law

enforcement.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 8

Vogue’s September issue was different this year.

Anna Wintour and her staff put it together when

more than 15 million people were marching in

Black Lives Matter protests nationwide and em-

ployees at Vogue’s parent company, Condé Nast,

were publicly calling out what they viewed as rac-

ism in their own workplace. At 316 pages, the is-

sue, titled “Hope,” featured a majority of Black

artists, models and photographers, a first for the

magazine.

For members of Vogue’s editorial team, the

September edition came in the uneasy wake of an

internal email Ms. Wintour had sent on June 4. “I

want to say plainly that I know Vogue has not

found enough ways to elevate and give space to

Black editors, writers, photographers, designers

and other creators,” wrote Ms. Wintour, the

Vogue editor in chief since 1988 and Condé Nast’s

artistic director since 2013, making her the edito-

rial leader of all its titles. “We have made mis-

takes, too, publishing images or stories that have

been hurtful or intolerant. I take full responsibil-

ity for those mistakes.”

Black editors who have worked with Ms. Win-

tour said they saw her apology as hypocritical,

part of a calculated play by an executive known

for her ability to gauge the public mood. Other

Black journalists who are current or former em-

ployees of Condé Nast said the email and the Sep-

tember issue that followed it represented an awk-

ward, though heartfelt, attempt at genuine

change.

More than any other institution, Vogue has de-

fined fashion and beauty for generations of wom-

en, and the runway looks encouraged by the Lon-

don-born Ms. Wintour, 70, have trickled down

from haute couture houses to fast-fashion retail-

ers and into the hands of everyday consumers.

From Manhattan to Hollywood and beyond, she

has helped set a standard that has favored white,

Eurocentric notions of beauty.

The rare magazine editor who is known outside

Anna Wintour backstage at the

Michael Kors runway show in 2017.

She has been the editor in chief of

Vogue since 1988 and Condé Nast’s

artistic director since 2013.

ELIZABETH LIPPMAN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES

The

White

Issue

Has Anna Wintour’s

diversity push at Vogue

and Condé Nast

come too late?

By EDMUND LEE

CONTINUED ON PAGE 6

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