Anatomy of a NY Times publication
On a Monday evening Trump posted to social media, “I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them, and also, importantly, Canada treats the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve,” and with that I had a strong suspicion I might be getting a call for pix. Many of my news jobs over the last year have originated from the president’s Truth Social megaphone. I had an early morning job at Stellantis but sure enough, at 10:30am Reuters called asking for images of the bridge (The Canadian Press and The Toronto Star also called shortly after).
I finished my morning job and headed to Sandwich to capture aerial video and stills of the Gordie Howe. After submitting my work I learned the New York Times had a scoop - Matthew Moroun, the billionaire owner of the Ambassador Bridge (the privately-owned crossing between Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario), met with U.S. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick on the afternoon of February 9, 2026 — just hours before former President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social threatening to block the opening of the new Gordie Howe International Bridge. The feature photo on the story was an aerial I had just submitted to Reuters. The story had reach from Trump’s original post but the NY Times scoop poured fuel on the story and for a time dominated the conversation surrounding the issue.
The reach of a photo when a story makes international headlines is quite impressive and it’s something I’m not used to from working at the Star. It happened once before when I captured the only photo of Nathaniel Veltman - the London, Ontario man found guilty of terrorism-related charges in connection with the 2021 attack in which he drove his truck into members of the Afzaal family. The case was the first time Canada's terrorism laws were put before a jury in a first-degree murder trial. The story had reach and was picked up by all the major American news agencies, along with my photo.
