Reuters admits photo manipulated.

www.ynetnews.com...

Reuters withdraws photograph of Beirut after Air Force attack after US blogs, photographers point out 'blatant evidence of manipulation.' Reuters' head of PR says in response, 'Reuters has suspended photographer until investigations are completed into changes made to photograph.' Photographer who sent altered image is same Reuters photographer behind many of images from Qana, which have also been subject of suspicions for being staged
Yaakov Lappin

A Reuters photograph of smoke rising from buildings in Beirut has been withdrawn after coming under attack by American web logs. The blogs accused Reuters of distorting the photograph to include more smoke and damage.

The photograph showed two very heavy plumes of black smoke billowing from buildings in Beirut after an Air Force attack on the Lebanese capital. Reuters has since withdrawn the photograph from its website, along a message admitting that the image was distorted, and an apology to editors.

In the message, Reuters said that "photo editing software was improperly used on this image. A corrected version will immediately follow this advisory. We are sorry for any inconvience."

Well what you think? Was the reporter doing it in sympathy for the Lebanese civilians and to end the conflict? Was it the right thing to do? Or was it wrong to manipulate the readers?

Of course it's wrong, very wrong. However, I find it rather shocking that this has happened at Reuters. Unlike others, Reuters is one of the most professional press agencies. It will harm their name very seriously. It's already worse enough what Israel caused in the ME, don't see a reason to make it look even more worse, nor do I know why you would risk your job for it.

However, I don't see it as breaking news. Like Olmert would say: It's an accident, we feel sorry for it.

It's systemic -- another photo by the same guy has been exposed as being doctored as well (See Here) and another.

Then there's also the issue of the Hezbullah photo-ops See Here

Now a lot oh Reuters photos are coming under scrutiny and there are several others that are questionable. They're under the blogosphere microscope right now, and it will be interesting to see what else is discovered.

Reuters just removed all 920 photos by Hajj. Reuters has agreed with the blogosphere about the second photo being doctored as well, and has announced that it has put all of his work into question. Hajj was fired on Sunday.

www.alertnet.org...

There has never been a better time to rent/watch "WAG THE DOG" - a wonderful movie with Dustin Hoffman and RObert DeNiro that covers this phenomenon in depth.

The question is - in today's hypersensationalized media landscape - and the attmept mass hordes of consumers of sensationalistic nonsense - it such an act really all that surprising?

Stalin was doctoring his photos back in the 1940's. It's to be expected when there is little to nothing to report, yet our leaders wish to "give the masses the impression of money well spent" and justification for it's wartime activities.

What saddens me is som many members of the populace either feel this is not that "notable" an issue, they're either too busy to care or (worse) infatuated by the "real time drama" that is playing out.

wow so I guess this means theres no war an no one has died. The Children are safe. Whew. I was scared there for a minute I gotta admit. This guy faked everything.



The bombs weren't actually being dropped because the smoke and flares were added, the buildings are still there because the smoke was made blacker and those destroyed building that lady was in front of are still standing because they used the lady 2x for different photos (Even though it could just be they followed her around for her reactions on different streets)

Originally posted by GENERAL EYES
What saddens me is som many members of the populace either feel this is not that "notable" an issue, they're either too busy to care or (worse) infatuated by the "real time drama" that is playing out.

Originally posted by ThePieMaN
wow so I guess this means theres no war an no one has died. The Children are safe. Whew. I was scared there for a minute I gotta admit. This guy faked everything.

The bombs weren't actually being dropped because the smoke and flares were added, the buildings are still there because the smoke was made blacker and those destroyed building that lady was in front of are still standing because they used the lady 2x for different photos (Even though it could just be they followed her around for her reactions on different streets)

Hehe those two posts, in the order in which they were posted, amused me.

I agree, General Eyes, for many this is a non-issue if it doesn't fit their agenda. Obviously it doesn't fit with The Pie Man's agenda, so it's going to be downplayed and ignored. This is a different issue than the war, this is an issue where it has been shown that one of the world's most respected news sources has been publishing doctored photos. While I don't think it was intentional, it does show that there aren't enough checks in place to where an individual with an agenda and photoshop couldn't change photos. On top of that, we have This story that shows that photos are being recycled with new captions depicting what Israel has done in Lebanon.

It doesn't take to be a genius to see the propaganda played by both sides.

And . . . it doesn't take to be a genius to know that in war as the way Israel has targeted Lebanon its a lot of destruction.

So anything new?

Originally posted by ThePieMaN
wow so I guess this means theres no war an no one has died.

No silly. This propaganda is a sure sign that there is an actual war raging along at full speed. Did anyone else here mention that this guy was responsible for most of the photos that Reuters had from the Qana incident which I've pointed out was filled with fraud before this fake-o-photo-journalist information came out.

So if faking photographs isn't such a big deal explain why all the 9/11 threads on doctored pentagon photos, and why the Kennedy assasination photos are such a big deal. It's evidence. Tampering with the evidence is a good sign that your side is in the wrong. Why would you mess with the evidence if you're not guilty of anything?

Originally posted by junglejake
This is a different issue than the war, this is an issue where it has been shown that one of the world's most respected news sources has been publishing doctored photos. While I don't think it was intentional, it does show that there aren't enough checks in place to where an individual with an agenda and photoshop couldn't change photos.

The US military has freely admitted that they diseminate misinformation, so it should come as no surprise that other groups may be doing it too. Im not sure about this guy, he could be a hezbollah partisan or maybe he makes a few extra bucks when the photo is a bit more heinous.
.

Originally posted by deltaboy
Well what you think? Was the reporter doing it in sympathy for the Lebanese civilians and to end the conflict? Was it the right thing to do? Or was it wrong to manipulate the readers?

It was obviously done to incite anti-Israeli sentiment, and on the flip side, to garner support for Hezbollah.

I cannot think of any circumstances where this dishonesty can be justified.

As far as manipulating the readers, that's a possibility, and judging by the support for Hezbollah I see here and elsewhere, it is working to reinforce anti-Israeli feelings. Even when proved to be doctored, people will still shrug it off as not being important.

I'm glad that Reuters pulled all photos by this phony, and then fired him.

Originally posted by jsobecky
anti-Israeli feelings.

As far as Im concerned we should get the hell out of the way and let the jews & arabs kill each other, however the US should not be giving foreign aide to anyone including israel. I see no reason why US tax payers should be footing the bill.

Do you think my position is anti-israeli?

Originally posted by df1
Do you think my position is anti-israeli?

No, it is not anti-Israel, as you stated it. Many people feel the same way - that we should take care of our own before giving aid to other nations. It's a good sentiment, but I wonder how practical it is. But then, you haven't done or said anything dishonest, as that photographer did.

I'm glad that Reuters pulled all photos by this phony

Holy cow your right. They didn't just pull the faked photo. LFG and a myriad other sites have been digging thru Adnan Hajj old photos finding lots more altered and staged photos by him. The evidence has piled up high enough that Reuters has removed all the photographs by Adnan Hajj from their news wires.

Reuters withdrew all 920 photographs by a freelance Lebanese photographer from its database on Monday.

Reuters ended its relationship with Hajj on Sunday after it found that a photograph he had taken of the aftermath of an Israeli air strike on suburban Beirut had been manipulated using Photoshop software to show more and darker smoke rising from buildings. An immediate enquiry began into Hajj's other work.

It established on Monday that a photograph of an Israeli F-16 fighter over Nabatiyeh, southern Lebanon and dated Aug 2, had also been doctored to increase the number of flares dropped by the plane from one to three. Hajj worked for Reuters as a non-staff contributing photographer from 1993 until 2003 and again since April 2005.

So anything new?

Yes, there is something new. The independent forums, blogs and news sites like ATS, LGF, Powerline, etc. for the first time are now able to highlight acts of fraud and misinformation in the huge conglomerated MSM like Reuters and help force a change back to impartial reporting. The MSM are not accustomed to having their news deeply scrutinized, questioned, debated openly by millions of critical thinkers, and publicly slammed for their misuse of the public trust via calculated misinformation. The news services are struggling to deal with this, and now regularly have to print major retractions, or revise their previous positions. Currently Reuters in particular is under tremendous pressure, thus the deletion of ALL Adnan Hajj's pictures.

Questions about the accuracy of the photograph arose after it appeared on news Web sites on Saturday. Several blogs, including a number which accuse the media of distorted coverage of the Middle East conflict, said the photograph had been doctored.

Filing drills have been tightened in Lebanon and only senior staff will now edit pictures from the Middle East on the Global Pictures Desk, with the final check undertaken by the Editor-in-Charge, Reuters said.

The regular Joe like you and I have a voice! That is new. And oh so important to the entire globe.




[edit on 8/7/06 by makeitso]

While this is true, makeitso, by Reuters pulling all the photos, they have effectively eliminated any further scrutiny into Hajj's past work. They stated in their release that all the photos they've looked at are solid, but just in case they're going to take them all down.

Michelle Malkin has a good take on this, including quotes from Reuters from a while back.

Haha, did you scroll down to the article about the employee being suspended for issuing threats to bloggers?

"I look forward to the day when you pigs get your throats cut!"
Wow... you can't get much more unprofessional than that.

The site also noted his hotmail address as ZionistPig.



... and THIS guy works for REUTERS!?

Originally posted by dbates


So if faking photographs isn't such a big deal explain why all the 9/11 threads on doctored pentagon photos, and why the Kennedy assasination photos are such a big deal. It's evidence. Tampering with the evidence is a good sign that your side is in the wrong. Why would you mess with the evidence if you're not guilty of anything?

Out-freaking-standing.

imho, I think its funny that this has been discussed without much vitriol, while had it been another news source, one that didn't fake anything, just take a position that was anti-terrorsism and anti-Hez., all kinds of derogatory statements would be pouring in. That biasd Faux news! Yet Reuters refuses to label anyone a terrorist.

The first thing I thought of was those photoshopped photos of troops Bush used for a re-election ad (LINK), only because the right-wing sites are going crazy about the Reuters one. It just goes to prove you can't trust anyone in the media these days, from whatever side you are on.

makeitso has a good point. Sites like ATS make it harder for propaganda from both sides to take root. We are definitely entering a new age of the dissemination of 'news'. I think for the better.

Originally posted by dbates

So if faking photographs isn't such a big deal explain why all the 9/11 threads on doctored pentagon photos, and why the Kennedy assasination photos are such a big deal. It's evidence. Tampering with the evidence is a good sign that your side is in the wrong. Why would you mess with the evidence if you're not guilty of anything?

There's one big essential difference. 9/11 and the Kenedy assassination are unsolved cases. We, especially conspiracy theorists, are eager to find out the truth. In this specific case, just an ordinary journalist manipulated a few pictures to make it look worse. Whether the pictures are manipulated or not, it's wrong, but it's not a big deal.

It's evidence

To prove what? There's enough evidence of Israel's brutal crimes.

Why shouldn't we just call it a tragic accident like Israel time after time does?

Originally posted by df1

Originally posted by jsobecky
anti-Israeli feelings.

As far as Im concerned we should get the hell out of the way and let the jews & arabs kill each other, however the US should not be giving foreign aide to anyone including israel. I see no reason why US tax payers should be footing the bill.

Do you think my position is anti-israeli?

Some of you don't seem to understand it. Israel is part of America's strategy to defend itself now an in the future. Sometimes the best defense is an offensive strategy, Israel is part of this strategy. As soon as this or another war escalates Israel will be used as a long term strategical basis.

[edit on 7-8-2006 by Mdv2]