Second Doctored Photo Confirmed

Monday, August 7th, 2006 3:00 pm by Neal

(Hat tip: Michelle)

Here’s part of the second, doctored photo by photographer Adnan Hajj published by Reuters.

Oh boy, Reuters has stepped in it Big Time! A second, doctored Reuters-published photo by Adnan Hajj has been discovered, prompting Reuters to pull all of Hajj’s photos from their database.

Reuters withdraws all photos by Lebanese freelance

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.

For the full story, check out “Another Fake Reuters Photo from Lebanon” over at “my pet jawa”. Excellent job in uncovering this one, guys.

But, there’s more. Check out “bombs” apparently being dropped (from the same photo):

Here’s the analysis from “my pet jawa” (which you should check out. They have much more analysis than we’re posting):

So, the original photo of the Israeli F-16 was probably of a single anti-SAM chaffe flare being dropped. In other words, the F-16 which Reuters proports to show firing missiles at Lebanon, was taking defensive measures.

But what about the “bombs” that are in the photo?

Here is a close up of them. Notice anything? That’s right. The top and bottom “bomb” are the same.

Doubt it? Here is an image of the bottom right bomb copied and pasted next to the upper left bomb.

The two are the same!

What about the middle “bomb”. On a hunch, I moved the copy next to it and used a common Photoshop technique called “smudge” and “blur”.

The center “bomb” is also a fake. It is simply a copy of the first, only reduced in quality to make it appear “different”.

Which raises a very interesting question? Were there any bombs in the original or are they all copied from another photo altogether? Update: Or, are these “bombs” at all, and not just smudges that have been copied and pasted?

Okay, so two Reuters photos from Adnan Hajj Ali have been debunked? Any more? Yes. Dan Riehl finds more evidence here.

I believe we are seeing the tip of the iceburg. Here are a few other photos that appear to have been doctored. Scroll through them. If you have Photoshop skills, we could use your help.

So, an image of an Israelie F-16 taking defensive measures is manipulated so that it appears to be dropping bombs on Lebanon! Incredible. Reuters has been caught red-handed. The Ministry of Truth would be proud.

***

Previous:
Doctored Beirut Photo: the First Draft
Reuters Dumps Photographer/Manipulator
Yep, al-Reuters Doctored the Photo
Has Reuters been “Ratherized?”

Comments are closed.