Photojournalism - digitally altering photographs

Orthodox Jewish paper apologizes for Hilary Clinton deletion

New York newspaper – Di Tzetung was found to have digitally removed a picture of Hilary Clinton and counterterrorism director, Audrey Tomason from a photograph where Barack Obama and his staff were in the White House. The published in Yiddish paper claimed that it is “immodest” to publish pictures of women according to ultra-Orthodox Jews.

Source: (thelmagazine.com)

The photographs clearly show the alterations made 

and the one without the women was published. 

I personally feel that images should not be digitally altered, especially those published in the media. It gives a sense of falsity which could ultimately mislead readers. Photojournalists should exercise wisdom and only alter photographs when they are underexposed. However, there should be a disclaimer.

For instance, in the case of freelance photographer, Adnan Hajj doctoring photos of the bombing in Beirut, within his possession over 900 images of the bombing which were digitally altered which was later removed by Reuters due to manipulation of photos with no disclaimers whatsoever (Lappin, 2006)

Source: (news.bbc.co.uk)

In the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA) Code of Ethics (Appendices B) states that as journalists accuracy is vital hence it is wrong to alter contests of photographs in any way that deceives the public.

Furthermore, “as photojournalists we have the responsibility to document society and to preserve its images as a matter of historical record (Bersak, 2006).

According to Schiller (2008) it states that photographs were created to be a narrative voice to the circumstance, and the preconceived photographer’s and audiences’ minds. Digital Custom Group Inc. (2002) adds on by saying alternations that “compensate for limitations and defects inherit digital process” are allowed but the photo must maintain its “true-to-life” accuracy.

In this case, Herbert Gans’s paradoxical cultural values can be seen. More specifically – ethnocentrism whereby an ethnic or cultural group tends to feel superior as compared to other groups (Hooghe, 2008). The Jewish had the perception of their cultural beliefs can be applied to the printing of newspapers.

The last theory that is applicable is Roland Barthe’s theory of semiotics. Barthes states that there is a structural system of codes or signs that acts as a social phenomenon, in the context of how they work in society (Crews, 2008). In photojournalism, cultural codes play a big role thus the “cropped” image of both women, as explained by managing editor, Lil Swanson of The Forward.  

References: 

1. Lappin, Y 2006, Reuters admits to more image manipulation, ynetnews.com, viewed 11 November 2011, <http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3287774,00.html>.

2. Bersak, D 2006, Ethics in Photojournalism: Past, Present and Future, S.B. Comparative Media Studies & Electrical Engineering/Computer Science Massachusetts Institute of Technology, viewed on 10 November 2011,< http://web.mit.edu/drb/Public/PhotoThesis/>.

3. Schiller, A 2008, Digital Photography  and the Ethics of Photo Alteration, Taxas A&M University, viewed 12 November 2011, <http://repository.tamu.edu/bitstream/handle/1969.1/85719/Photo%20Thesis%20Rasior.pdf?sequence=1>.

4. Ethics editing news photos digitally – Journalism – Brief Article 2002, CBS Interactive Business Network Resource Library, viewed 9 November 2011, <http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1272/is_2683_130/ai_85370064/>.

5. Hooghe, M 2008, Ethnocentrism, International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, viewed 10 November 2011, <http://www.kuleuven.be/citizenship/_data/etho_iess.pdf>.

6. Crews, A 2008, Communicating Through Photography, University of Colorado at Boulder, viewed 11 November 2011, 

<http://www.colorado.edu/communication/meta-discourses/Papers/App_Papers/Crews.html>.