No Media Bias, Huh??

The TrekMedic puts on his shocked face to report this one:

Reuters Withdraws Pictures Doctored By Photographer
Monday, August 07, 2006

The news organization Reuters reported Monday that it withdrew from its archives all 920 photographs taken by a Lebanese freelance photographer after a review found he had altered two of the images.

Both of the pictures were taken during the current conflict between Israel and the terrorist group Hezbollah.

Reuters said that Global Picture Editor Tom Szlukovenyi called the measure precautionary, but acknowledged that 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 apologized for the case.

Removing the images from the Reuters database excludes them from future sale.

(snip)

Reuters said that the news organization had established that a photograph of an Israeli F-16 fighter over Nabatiyeh, southern Lebanon and dated August 2, had also been doctored to increase the number of flares dropped by the plane from one to three.

"Manipulating photographs in this way is entirely unacceptable and contrary to all the principles consistently held by Reuters throughout its long and distinguished history. It undermines not only our reputation but also the good name of all our photographers," Szlukovenyi said.