An electronic book published Monday by a New York-based photo agency offers solutions to reduce an increasing distrust in photojournalism.
The 51-page e-book, “Photojournalism, Technology, and Ethics: What’s Wrong and Right Today?”, published by Black Star, presents examples of the ethical problems facing photojournalists, like the ease of photo manipulation.
“Today, the profession of photojournalism, as we know it, is threatened by technological transformation, by the rise of video, by fragmentation of the media,” the authors write. “It’s under fire from a suspicious public — watchdog bloggers, cable and radio pundits, and other critics who question the profession’s credibility and authority to bring us an accurate picture of the world.”
According to the e-book, a conservative blogger discovered that Adnan Hajj, a freelance photographer for Reuters, had used Adobe Photoshop to add more smoke above buildings attacked by Israel in a photo he had taken during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon War.
Bloggers found additional altered images from Hajj, and Reuters fired him. The book, available free on Black Star’s Web site, claims the manipulation led conservatives to increase allegations of liberal bias in the mainstream media because they saw the photo as designed to arouse outcry against Israel.
“It’s become a lot easier to manipulate images, and the manipulation of images has come under increased scrutiny,” said Scott Baradell, one of the book’s two authors.
The book recommends that news agencies begin using software to detect altered photos, but the availability of the software is limited.
Dartmouth professor Hany Farid said he has developed software used by the FBI to detect manipulated images, but it is not for sale.
“Certainly, it is possible for companies to step up and develop this type of software,” Farid said. “It’s just a matter of time, money and effort.”
The book also urges photojournalists to label an altered photograph a “photo illustration” to alert readers that the picture has been altered beyond the standard darkroom techniques used, such as “dodging or burning,” or making parts of an image lighter or darker.
Baradell said another form of photograph manipulation is the staging of shots, a practice commonly used by television-news camera crews.
Jay Godwin, the director of photography at the Austin American-Statesman, said the newspaper allows limited dodging and burning, but nothing is added to or removed from their news photos.
“Maybe somebody’s face is a little bit too shadowy, where you can’t see them very well,” Godwin said. “We’ll lighten it to where you can see that better, but not in an extreme sense to where it changes.”
The Daily Texan allows dodging and burning and editing photos if it enhances the accuracy of what the photojournalist saw.
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