# Reuters admits altering Beirut photo



## R y a n (Apr 4, 2005)

Check out the latest Beruit picture... *IF* it's real that is.

*Reuters admits altering Beirut photo*
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340 ... 66,00.html



> A Reuters photograph of smoke rising from buildings in Beirut has been withdrawn after coming under attack by American web logs.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.
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> 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 Reuters has since withdrawn the photograph from its website, along a message admitting that the image was distorted, and an apology to editors.
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http://news.yahoo.com/photo/060805/ids_ ... 797657.jpg

Now, if you are photoshop saavy, you will recognize the cloning tool workings--I did right away. Below is a link that draws it out for you:

http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/ ... 6&only&rss



> Reuters has suspended a photojournalist covering the Israeli assault on Lebanon after an investigation by bloggers revealed an image had been digitally manipulated to increase the apparent severity of a bombing raid.
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> The photograph filed by Adnan Hajj showed smoke billowing from burning buildings in a Beirut suburb on Saturday, but was immediately questioned in a post by Washington DC-based graphic artist Jeff Harrell, writing that "the clone stamp tool (was used) about 63 zillion times to paint more smoke into the sky above Beirut".
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http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_di ... ?tid=21302 also has been talking about it. (photography site)

Once again....never EVER fully believe what you think you are seeing in the media..

Ryan

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## R y a n (Apr 4, 2005)

LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Reuters withdrew all 920 photographs by a freelance Lebanese photographer from its database on Monday after an urgent review of his work showed he had altered two images from the conflict between Israel and the armed group Hizbollah.

Global Picture Editor Tom Szlukovenyi called the measure precautionary but said the fact that two of the images by photographer Adnan Hajj had been manipulated undermined trust in his entire body of work.

"There is no graver breach of Reuters standards for our photographers than the deliberate manipulation of an image," Szlukovenyi said in a statement.

"Reuters has zero tolerance for any doctoring of pictures and constantly reminds its photographers, both staff and freelance, of this strict and unalterable policy."

The news and information agency announced the decision in an advisory note to its photo service subscribers. The note also said Reuters had tightened editing procedures for photographs from the conflict and apologised for the case.

Removing the images from the Reuters database excludes them from future sale.

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.

"Manipulating photographs in this way is entirely unacceptable and contrary to all the principles consistently held by Reuters throughout its long and distinguished history. It undermines not only our reputation but also the good name of all our photographers," Szlukovenyi said.

"This doesn't mean that every one of his 920 photographs in our database was altered. We know that not to be the case from the majority of images we have looked at so far but we need to act swiftly and in a precautionary manner."

The two altered photographs were among 43 that Hajj filed directly to the Reuters Global Pictures Desk since the start of the conflict on July 12 rather than through an editor in Beirut, as was the case with the great majority of his images.

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.

Hajj worked for Reuters as a non-staff contributing photographer from 1993 until 2003 and again since April 2005. Most of his work was in sports photography, much of it outside Lebanon.

Hajj was not in Beirut on Monday and was not responding to calls. *He told Reuters on Sunday that the image of the Israeli air strike on Beirut had dust marks which he had wanted to remove.*

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.
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Ryan


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## R y a n (Apr 4, 2005)

Even more propoganda is emerging.....

Geessshhhhh :eyeroll:

http://drinkingfromhome.blogspot.com/20 ... ition.html

Boy, this woman must have been one _unlucky_ woman!

Imagine, she had her picture taken *twice*, both times her home/s were blown to bits--*on different days*. One on July 22, the second on Aug 5th.

Don't these photogs have different models to choose from?? :-?

The link includes links back to the original postings of photos.

BTW in other propoganda news, the Lebonese PM stated that one person was killed in an Israeli airstrike on the southern village of Houla, not 40 as he had earlier reported.
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Ryan

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## Gun Owner (Sep 9, 2005)

http://break.com/index/what_really_happ ... ywood.html

Thats an older 60 minutes clip, but this kinda crap from the middle east is turning out to be the rule, not the exception.


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

A few years ago the media types would get on people if they uttered anti Jewish sentiment. Now they are the guilty party. I guess if you work for Reuters you may want to wear a T shirt that says "Auschwitz was a gas".

So what's with the world hating Jewish people again? My guess is it's just another form of appeasement. Israel will not become terrorists, but we already have terrorists to deal with so if we hate Israel the terrorists will be our friends? I don't think so. I prefer to be Israel's friend and kill all the terrorists.


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## Bobm (Aug 26, 2003)

Reuters has booted the freelance Lebanese photographer that doctored several images and beamed them around the world. They've pulled all 920 photos taken by this individual and bought by Reuters. Fine. The wire service issued the following statement: "Reuters has zero tolerance for any doctoring of pictures and constantly reminds its photographers, both staff and freelance, of this strict and unalterable policy." Really?

That sure makes Reuters seem like a stand-up kind of organization. Would that it be so. *You don't have to doctor some pictures in a computer program to be considered a propagandist. There are other ways. First of all, you have to consider that it is Reuters policy not to call Islamic terrorists "terrorists." You see, that's a judgmental word. We can't call them terrorists. Instead, we get words like "insurgents, gunmen, militia, fighters" and other such nonsense. Just where are you in this war against Islamic terrorism if you can't call a terrorist a terrorist? *

But back to the photos for a minute. They've already been busted staging photos and you can bet there is more of that to come. But there is one other kind of photo bias you haven't heard much about. And that is the photo selection that takes place when photos are sent to the wires. For example, Condoleezza Rice holds a press conference. Photographers take thousands of pictures of her during this conference. Once the news conference ends, the photographers head back to their computer to download their pictures and see what they have. It is at this point that they decide what to send to Reuters, AP or whatever.

Now. they will have flattering pictures of Rice and unflattering ones. Here she is smiling -- there she is scowling. Here is where the bias creeps in. If the photographer is a leftist, he will submit the photos of Condoleezza Rice that don't look the best. Then, presto! You go to CNN, MSNBC, Fox News or whomever's website and there it is...a picture of Condoleezza Rice scowling on the front page. You'd think the woman never smiled.

Go ahead...try it some time. The next time you're surfing the news sites, look for the pictures posted of Republicans. They're almost always unflattering in some way. Yet, with Democrats, it's not the case. Media bias? Of course. :eyeroll:


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

Your right about the unflattering photos Bob, and it isn't new. I have watched it for 40 years.


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## snoduf (Jul 27, 2006)

I told my wife don't believe the pictures or vidio you see. Look what Hollywood can do with film.


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## AlexZello (Feb 6, 2008)

What do you think of Obadiah Shoher's views on the Middle East conflict? One can argue, of course, that Shoher is ultra-right, but his followers are far from being a marginal group. Also, he rejects Jewish moralistic reasoning - that's alone is highly unusual for the Israeli right. And he is very influential here in Israel. So what do you think?
uh, here's the site in question: Middle East conflict


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