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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Reuters drops freelance Lebanese photographer over image
2006-08-07
Reuters, the global news and information agency, told a freelance Lebanese photographer on Sunday it would not use any more of his pictures after he doctored an image of the aftermath of an Israeli air strike on Beirut. The photograph by Adnan Hajj, which was published on news Web sites on Saturday, showed thick black smoke rising above buildings in the Lebanese capital after an Israeli air raid in the war with the Shi'ite Islamic group Hizbollah, now in its fourth week.

Reuters withdrew the doctored image on Sunday and replaced it with the unaltered photograph after several news blogs said it had been manipulated using Photoshop software to show more smoke. Reuters has strict standards of accuracy that bar the manipulation of images in ways that mislead the viewer. "The photographer has denied deliberately attempting to manipulate the image, saying that he was trying to remove dust marks and that he made mistakes due to the bad lighting conditions he was working under," said Moira Whittle, the head of public relations for Reuters.
How do you get dust marks on digital images? What are the bad lighting conditions that effect Photoshop? A cheap monitor?
"This represents a serious breach of Reuters' standards and we shall not be accepting or using pictures taken by him," Whittle said in a statement issued in London.

Hajj worked for Reuters as a non-staff freelance, or contributing photographer, from 1993 until 2003 and again since April 2005. He was among several photographers from the main international news agencies whose images of a dead child being held up by a rescuer in the village of Qana, south Lebanon, after an Israeli air strike on July 30 have been challenged by blogs critical of the mainstream media's coverage of the Middle East conflict. Reuters and other news organisations reviewed those images and have all rejected allegations that the photographs were staged.
Posted by:Fred

#15  I hear that HDNet is looking for a creative photographer.
Posted by: ryuge   2006-08-07 23:27  

#14  Garsh, you'd think that Reuters would want to protect its credibility by prosecuting Hajj for fraud (selling falsified documents) and making sure his journalistic credentials were revoked. Anyone wanna bet that Hajj shows up on al-Jazeera's staff?
Posted by: Zenster   2006-08-07 20:33  

#13  Ze photoz?
As you Americans say, "zey are, fake but accurate"
- The European Union
- Jacques "The Weasel" Chriac
- Supreme Leader
Posted by: BigEd   2006-08-07 15:12  

#12  Now Reuters has withdrawn all of Hajj's pictures from its database, after that jet picture was exposed. I did a google image search on his name earlier this morning, and what came up were mostly soccer pictures.
Posted by: Angie Schultz   2006-08-07 11:24  

#11  Update: the whole Hajj ouvre is toast.
Posted by: JSU   2006-08-07 11:23  

#10  The problem here is that they'll just hire better photoshoppers.
Posted by: JSU   2006-08-07 11:05  

#9  Anyone think this is the only photo he 'shopped? Anyone? Bueller?

No. Take a gander here. Try not to choke on your coffee as you read it.

There was another one, a photo of flames behind a row of buildings, but I can't find it now. It looked as if the buildings in the foreground were photoshopped in to make a very arty shot.
Posted by: Angie Schultz   2006-08-07 10:52  

#8  Anyone think this is the only photo he 'shopped? Anyone? Bueller?

If Roooters had any integrity (hah) they'd do an audit of each and every photo he's sent them. Better yet, they'd put each one on the net at one website and invite bloggers and photo experts to take a look.

The key problem: Roooters, Aaay-Peee, Agencie Frog Pressé, etc, are all relying on stringers to bring them news annd photos from war zones. It's not safe to venture from the hotel bar, so the stringers do their jobs. Think Hajj had an agenda? Think he saw this as a golden opportunity?

The problem won't get better until 'war correspondents' go to war.
Posted by: Steve White   2006-08-07 10:19  

#7  Translation: You caught our faker. Now we have to hire a better one.
Posted by: mcsegeek1   2006-08-07 08:43  

#6  Dust gets on the lens.

Or sensor. Some newer Olympus models actually vibrate the sensor to knock dust off.
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2006-08-07 05:29  

#5  Day late? Dollar short?
Posted by: gromgoru   2006-08-07 02:58  

#4  
COMMENT KILL


The original image was shot by an Associated Press photographer.

Doh! That was speculation by Allah, which proved to be incorrect.

...the CO content would go down...

That should be CO2 content.

Please accept our apologies for any inconvenience caused.
Posted by: Angie Schultz   2006-08-07 01:58  

#3  Wanted: Freelance photographer. Advanced Photoshop experience a must.
Posted by: BH   2006-08-07 00:25  

#2  How do you get dust marks on digital images?

Dust gets on the lens.

What are the bad lighting conditions that effect Photoshop?

Over at Protein Wisdom they suggested that the power went out and his laptop battery drained, so he had to do his Photoshopping by candlelight. I buy it.

I got a theory: The original image was shot by an Associated Press photographer. Hajj was supposed to get a shot of the carnage, but he was hung over or had to go to a beheading or something, and never made it. So he figures that since these pictures all look alike anyway, he'll just alter a colleague's picture a bit, hand it in as his own, and no one will be the wiser.

OR, he and his colleague had a bet:

AP guy: My editors are the most clueless bastards the world has ever seen.
Hajj: No way, dude. Mine are barely sentient.
AP guy: Oh yeah? If you locked my editors in an airtight room, the CO content would go down, if you get my drift.
Hajj: Er, no. But I propose a contest. We'll take turns filing ludicrous fakes. First one to get fired wins.
AP guy: You're on, dude. You first.
Posted by: Angie Schultz   2006-08-07 00:22  

#1  "Reuters drops freelance Lebanese photographer over image." Hires his cousins in his place.
Posted by: Sock Puppet of Doom   2006-08-07 00:14  

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