Adnan's digitally manipulated photograph of the aftermath of an IDF attack on Beirut.
Before and after image manipulation
Digitally manipulated photograph of an IAF F-16 deploying a single flare over Southern Lebanon; the flare was digitally duplicated to make it appear that several missiles were being fired.

The Adnan Hajj photographs controversy (also called Reutersgate) involves digitally manipulated photographs taken by Adnan Hajj, a Lebanese freelance photographer based in the Middle East, who had worked for Reuters over a period of more than ten years. Hajj's photographs were presented as part of Reuters' news coverage of the 2006 Lebanon War, but Reuters has admitted that at least two were significantly altered before being published.[1][2]

Timeline

The first image was discovered on August 5, 2006 when blogger Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs wrote that the first image "shows blatant evidence of manipulation" (Adobe Photoshop clone stamp),[1][3] Reuters removed all of Hajj's photographs from their site; Hajj claimed to not have intentionally altered the photo but was trying to remove "dust marks".[4] Reuters did not stand by the photographer and admitted that Hajj had altered it, saying "photo editing software was improperly used on this image. A corrected version will immediately follow this advisory. We are sorry for any inconvenience."[5] Head of PR Moira Whittle said: "Reuters takes such matters extremely seriously as it is strictly against company editorial policy to alter pictures."[5]

The second manipulated image was reported by the pseudonymous blogger "Dr. Rusty Shackleford" on his blog "The Jawa Report".[6][7] Reuters captioned it as showing an Israeli F-16 fighter jet firing ground-attack missiles "during an air strike on Nabatiyeh", but the F-16 was actually deploying one defensive flare, and the original photograph showed only one flare.[8][9] The photo had been doctored to increase the number of flares falling from the F-16 from one to three, and misidentified them as missiles.

On August 6, Reuters announced it would stop all cooperation with Adnan Hajj.[10] Hajj claimed he had just been trying to remove dust marks, and that he made mistakes due to the bad lighting conditions he was working under. Critics point out that this is impossible, as Hajj's doctored image added an entire plume of smoke, duplicated several buildings, and showed a repeating pattern indicating that one plume of smoke was "cloned" several times.[11]

On August 7, Reuters decided to withdraw all 920 photos by Hajj from sale.[10] As of May 11, 2008, Reuters had removed all of Hajj's images from its site. On January 18, 2007 Reuters reported that an internal investigation into the Adnan Hajj photomanipulation had led to a top Reuters photo editor being fired.[12]

The charges against Hajj took place within a larger context of many allegations about misleading photographs coming out of the Israel–Lebanon conflict.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "Reuters toughens rules after altered photo affair". Reuters. 2007-01-18. The two photos, both of Israeli military action in Lebanon during the war there last August, were taken by a freelance photographer, Adnan Hajj. Reuters ended its relationship with Hajj following an initial inquiry soon after bloggers questioned whether the photographs had been digitally altered using Photoshop software. All Hajj's images were removed from the Reuters Pictures sales database.
  2. ^ "Smoke and Mirrors: Reuters Dismisses Photog Over Doctored Beirut Picture". Editor and Publisher. August 6, 2006. Archived from the original on 8 September 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
  3. ^ "Reuters Doctoring Photos from Beirut?". Little Green Footballs. August 5, 2006. Retrieved 2021-10-26.
  4. ^ Lucas, Dean (2007). "Famous pictures magazine - Altered Images". Famous Pictures. Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 2007-10-03.
  5. ^ a b Lappin, Yaakov (August 6, 2006). "Reuters admits altering Beirut photo". Ynetnews. Archived from the original on 9 August 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
  6. ^ "Another Fake Reuters Photo from Lebanon". The Jawa Report. August 6, 2006. Archived from the original on 9 August 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
  7. ^ "Reuters Pulls 920 Pictures by Discredited Photographer". New York Sun. August 8, 2006. Archived from the original on November 28, 2009. Retrieved March 18, 2010.
  8. ^ Lappin, Yaakov (August 7, 2006). "Reuters admits to more image manipulation". Ynetnews. Archived from the original on 11 August 2006. Retrieved 2006-08-07.
  9. ^ "The Free Lance-Star - Google News Archive Search".
  10. ^ a b "Reuters drops Beirut photographer". BBC. August 8, 2006. Archived from the original on 28 October 2006. Retrieved 2006-10-10.
  11. ^ Bad Photoshopping saves the day Archived March 11, 2007, at the Wayback Machine LAYOUT editor's blog, August 14, 2006
  12. ^ Daryl Lang (January 18, 2007). "Reuters Investigation Leads To Dismissal Of Editor". Photo District News. Archived from the original on 21 January 2007. Retrieved 2007-01-18.

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