Reuters admits to using doctored photo(s)

[EvilMonkey]

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3286966,00.html

Reuters admits altering Beirut photo

 

 

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

 

A Reuters photograph of smoke rising from buildings in Beirut has been withdrawn after coming under attack by American web logs.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 Reuters has since withdrawn the photograph from its website, along a message admitting that the image was distorted, and an apology to editors.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."

 

Reuters' head of PR Moira Whittle said in response: "Reuters has suspended a photographer until investigations are completed into changes made to a photograph showing smoke billowing from buildings following an air strike on Beirut. Reuters takes such matters extremely seriously as it is strictly against company editorial policy to alter pictures."

 

"As soon as the allegation came to light, the photograph, filed on Saturday 5 August, was removed from the file and a replacement, showing the same scene, was sent. The explanation for the removal was the improper use of photo-editing software," she added.

 

Earlier, Charles Johnson, of the Little Green Footballs blog , which has exposed a previous attempt at fraud by a major American news corporation, wrote : "This Reuters photograph shows blatant evidence of manipulation. Notice the repeating patterns in the smoke; this is almost certainly caused by using the Photoshop “clone” tool to add more smoke to the image."

 

Johnson added: "Smoke simply does not contain repeating symmetrical patterns like this, and you can see the repetition in both plumes of smoke. There’s really no question about it."

 

A series of close ups are then posted on the blog, showing that "it’s not only the plumes of smoke that were 'enhanced.' There are also cloned buildings." The close ups do appear to show exact replicas of buildings appearing next to one another in the photograph.

 

The Sports Shooter web forum , used by professional photographers, also examined the photo, with many users concluding that the image has been doctored.

 

 

'Looks so obviously doctored'

 

"I'll second the cloned smoke...but it looks so obvious that I don't know how the photographer could have gotten away with it," wrote one user.

 

After further research, Johnson posted a photograph he says is the original image taken before distortions were made, showing much lighter smoke rising.

 

Other blogs have also analyzed the photographs, and reached similar conclusions, such as Left & Right , which states: "The photo has been doctored, quite badly."

 

The author of the Ace of Spades blog wrote: "Even I can see the very suspicious "clonings" of picture elements here. And I'm an idiot."

 

The Hot Air blog also looked at the photo, describing the image as "the worst Photoshop I have ever seen."

 

Adnan Hajj, the photographer who sent the altered image, was also the Reuters photographer behind many of the images from Qana – which have also been the subject of suspicions for being staged.

 

This from the same company that has employees sending death threats to blogs that support Israel.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3256534,00.html

 

Maybe it is time for a little house cleaning at Reauters, along with a fat lawsuit by the person who got the threat.

[samclemens]

say "aye" if you are suprised at reuters.

 

 

 

*saying nothing*

[NUKE_CLEVELAND]

YOU MEAN THE LEFTIST MAINSTREAM PRESS PUTS OUT FALSE INFORMATION TO ADVANCE A PRO HEZBOLLAH, ANTI-ISREAL AGENDA?!?!?!?!!

 

 

SAY IT AINT SO!!!!!

[CrimsonWeltall]

It's not even subtle. Someone just took the clone stamp and went to town. F- to whatever idiot altered the photo.

[EvilMonkey]

From Coxandforkum.com

 

 

[minors]

YOU MEAN THE LEFTIST MAINSTREAM PRESS PUTS OUT FALSE INFORMATION TO ADVANCE A PRO HEZBOLLAH, ANTI-ISREAL AGENDA?!?!?!?!!

SAY IT AINT SO!!!!!

 

No way Nuke. Liberal media would never do anything like that now.

[southsider2k5]

So far in the conflict we have seen

 

-casualty totals exaggerated or lied about.

-photos doctored

-Hezbollah controlling access to attack zones

-Evidence of Hebollah trying to blend in with civilains in violation of the Geneva Conventions, which has been barely reported.

-Firing on Israel systematically from civilian areas, which has also been very underreported.

 

And people wonder why the MSM's credibility is doubted...

[NorthSideSox72]

So far in the conflict we have seen

 

-casualty totals exaggerated or lied about.

-photos doctored

-Hezbollah controlling access to attack zones

-Evidence of Hebollah trying to blend in with civilains in violation of the Geneva Conventions, which has been barely reported.

-Firing on Israel systematically from civilian areas, which has also been very underreported.

 

And people wonder why the MSM's credibility is doubted...

And to be fair, only one of those five points has ANYTHING to do with the MSM - the doctored photos. You can blame Hezbollah for the rest.

[Cknolls]

And to be fair, only one of those five points has ANYTHING to do with the MSM - the doctored photos. You can blame Hezbollah for the rest.

 

Nic Robertson being led by a leash by a Hizbollah PR person doesn't represent MSM complicity?

 

Give me a break.

[southsider2k5]

More of the same...

 

Death toll lowered from 40 to 1

 

And more images being pulled as faked...

 

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3287774,00.html

[samclemens]

and more...its getting shameless now. what the hell is reuters doing??

[Soxbadger]

Im some what confused.

 

That left media not supporting Israel thing was sarcastic right?

 

Its really hard to tell over the internet.

[Cerbaho-WG]

I don't want to defend Reuters at all, but the person who photographed the original Beirut photo has also had some pathetic photo ops of a dead kid being carried around...for like an hour. I'll try and dig up the link.

 

It's quite pathetic/laughable that one of the largest news companis in the world could be so stupid. Damn, I think people are going to get the point if there's a huge tower of smoke coming from a building. You don't need to clone it so it looks World War II for us to understand some horrible stuff is going on in Lebanon.

 

What's even better is that a lot of dolts are going to use this as an excuse that the liberal run jew hating f** loving media are blah blah blah blah. Islamofascist islamofascist I swear to God if I say islamofascist one more time I'm going to turn into David Horowitz and have tree roots coming out of my ass. Put the tinfoil down and go back to LittleGreenFootballs where you can fraternize with your racist brethren.

[samclemens]

I don't want to defend Reuters at all, but the person who photographed the original Beirut photo has also had some pathetic photo ops of a dead kid being carried around...for like an hour. I'll try and dig up the link.

 

It's quite pathetic/laughable that one of the largest news companis in the world could be so stupid. Damn, I think people are going to get the point if there's a huge tower of smoke coming from a building. You don't need to clone it so it looks World War II for us to understand some horrible stuff is going on in Lebanon.

 

What's even better is that a lot of dolts are going to use this as an excuse that the liberal run jew hating f** loving media are blah blah blah blah. Islamofascist islamofascist I swear to God if I say islamofascist one more time I'm going to turn into David Horowitz and have tree roots coming out of my ass. Put the tinfoil down and go back to LittleGreenFootballs where you can fraternize with your racist brethren.

 

uh...who are you responding to here?

Edited August 7, 2006 by samclemens

[southsider2k5]

More pictures are facing scrutiny... When do we get to the point where we call this a pattern of deceit, and start to find out who is supplying these pictures and make front page news out of it?

 

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3288406,00.html

[Texsox]

Has technology made this harder or easier to perpetrate? On one hand photo editing software makes doctoring photos child's play and quick, on the other the internet makes spotting these easier.

 

Newspapers can be lied to. Much of our lives are based on trust. We trust that oncoming car won't swerve into our lane and we trust that the photographer selling photos is telling the truth. How would you authenticate those types of photos?

 

No wonder trust in media is dropping, being replaced by our government and admittedly biased sources like the talking heads.

 

 

the question will be was Reuters a victim of a dishonest freelancer/employee or criminal in it's own actions? If a store accepts a counterfeit bill, we don't charge them with counterfeiting.