Built-in bias

摘要

Queen Elizabeth's 1991 state visit to the US began with an official welcome on the White House lawn from President George HW Bush. While at 6′2″ President Bush could be seen easily behind his usual White House podium, all that viewers could see of the 5′4″ British monarch was her hat. Queen Elizabeth's face was almost completely obscured by a set of microphones atop the podium that covered the rest of her. In a documentary Elizabeth R (1992), which included a short bit about her visit, a narrator commented, 'Unfortunately no one adjusted the podium. So instead of the head of state, the world's press and television would see only the hat of state. Through the perversity of publicity, this is to become the talking point of the trip.