How did an image of a fake Massachusetts flag end up in a brochure for Martha's Vineyard?

[Nevilledog]

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Spencer Buell
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until recently, Will Bodine's mockup of the MA state flag, which he posted on Imgur 2 years ago, had only a handful of views

so how did it end up in an error-laden brochure for migrants flown to Martha's Vineyard last week?

that's what he wants to know

bostonglobe.com
How did an image of a fake Massachusetts flag end up in a brochure for Martha’s Vineyard migrants?...
“How did this happen? How did this image that I posted two years ago that no one saw end up on anyone’s radar?”
11:58 AM · Sep 21, 2022

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2022/09/21/metro/how-did-an-image-fake-massachusetts-flag-end-up-brochure-marthas-vineyard-migrants/

No paywall
https://archive.ph/56UZB

Will Bodine hadn’t given his redesign of the Massachusetts state flag much thought in a while.
Two summers ago, he whipped up the image in “upwards of 10 minutes” on his computer. The concept was simple: a blue shield emblazoned with the official state flower — the mayflower — encircled by six blue stars, all splashed against a white backdrop.

Bodine, who lives in Pittsfield, showed it to a few friends and shared it on Facebook. He also uploaded it to Imgur, an image-hosting website, where, until recently, it had only been viewed a few times.

“Not officially or anything,” he wrote. “I just think the current one [expletive] so I made this one featuring the state flower.”

So on Tuesday, it came as a complete surprise when Bodine learned his reimagined design was embroiled in the national controversy involving Venezuelan migrants flown to Martha’s Vineyard unannounced last week.


*snip*

[Retrograde]

1. So add copyright violation to the list

of crimes: how hard is it to find an actual picture of the real Mass flag in the first place?

[Ms. Toad]

2. No real mystery.

It's the top image when you search imgur for "Massachusetts Flag." Whoever designed the brochure searched imgur for images they believed they could use without cost or permission.

[sanatanadharma]

3. Top image now, not likely top when it was chosen

Of all Massachusetts's flag images available to Google search before this recent news, how likely is it that a fake flag would be the top of the list pick?

[MrsCoffee]

4. Not Google. Imgur.

[sanatanadharma]

5. Ah! OK, now I understand

But why search Imgur?

[JHB]

6. Because it is an image hosting site

Easier to find and download a suitable image (they thought). Maybe they were just too inept to know how to copy an image off a website.

[Ms. Toad]

7. I wasn't suggesting a google search. I was suggesting an Imgur search.

It's a well known image hosting site. Only 12 images show up, none of them the actual Massachusetts flag. Several labeled "proposed redesign," or something similar. This one is the only one labeled "New Massachusetts flag."

Out of 12, not much of a stretch.

[sanatanadharma]

8. I now understand. I did not read well

I failed to read correctly, much as the maga-mind does.
Hopefully, I am not as careless as the pamphleteer.

[Ms. Toad]

9. I get what you were saying -

and it could easily have happened with Imgur, as well, except that so few images show up in the search!