National Geographic Uses an AP Photo Including Bush 43 in Item About Obama Admin $131 Mil Grantee A123's Bankruptcy

Electric vehicle battery make A123 filed for bankruptcy on Tuesday. Part of the caption at an Associated Press photo found at a National Geographic report about the "hurdles for clean tech" on Wednesday stated that the company "received a $6 million grant from the Bush administration in 2007 and a $249 million grant from the Obama administration in 2008." That's pretty funny (actually pathetic), given that Obama didn't take office until January 2009. What's not funny is which of the two presidents cited in the AP photo's caption is actually in the photo: Story Continues Below Ad Here it is, or at least the top two thirds of it: Imagine that. It's Bush 43, under whom the company received a pittance that is barely a rounding error. President Obama, whose administration has disbursed 22 times as much money to the company, is nowhere to be found ( Politico reported  yesterday that the company, according the Energy Department, has drawn down about $131 million, but was silent on whether it will be able to continue to receive grant funds after Johnson Controls buys it in bankruptcy.) Several commenters at the article expressed their displeasure in National Geographic's photo choice. The magazine's miavelle offered this lame defense in her own comment: Thanks so much for your comments! As our photo caption and story state clearly, A123 did obtain a far larger grant of federal dollars from the Obama administration than from the Bush administration. Many elements go into the choice of photographs to illustrate stories. We felt it was important to do more than show the physical battery, but to show its usein other words, to show a car. But the few images available from our agencies showing A123s technology in conjunction with a car were not the technically high-quality photos that we demand. In a political season, sometimes editorial judgments may seem political. But this photo was chosen just as we choose all photos at National Geographic's web site, on the basis of excellent technical quality and appropriateness to the story.