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Digital Photo Manipulation and the Media

As journalists, we believe the guiding principle of our profession is accuracy; therefore,

we believe it is wrong to alter the content of a photograph in any way that deceives the public .

(NPPA 2011) Digital photo manipulation is a growing issue in the media world ; it threatens the

credibility of all journalists and brings more issues of ethics to light. Journalism rests on a

foundation of unbiased storytelling and fair reporting, and deliverers of the news should strive

for complete balance. Journalists have a responsibility to report accurately and fairly, but ethical

issues often get in the way and force them to make choices and sacrifices. The issue of digital

photo manipulation now has a permanent presence in all forms of journalism and has been rise in

recent decades with the steady increase in technological advances. This issue tests the credibility

and reliability of all journalists and changes the way journalism is viewed by the world . The

worlds dependence and fixation on technology and a faster and better world has had a huge

impact on journalistic standards in recent years. Everything is available on the internet and can

be accessed through hand-held devices, which is also taken into consideration in this ethical

situation. Newspapers, magazines, television, and most importantly, social networking sites, all

struggle with the use of photo manipulation because of our technology-based society.

The rise of technology and our societys reliance on it has evolved the foundation of

journalism and journalistic ethical standards and norms. According to McQuail, the use of

computer technology and the internet has greatly blurred the lines of journalism and mass

communication and changed the way it is viewed by the public. Because the internet has little


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regulation and all forms of journalism are now available online, including print journalism like

newspapers and magazines, the uniqueness of other news outlets is quickly diminishing

(McQuail, p. 41, 2010). Newspapers and magazines that are now offered online arguably lose

their authenticity for some people because of their digitalization. Editing software programs

such as Adobe Photoshop and Corel Digital Studio allow the user , or the journalist in this case,

to alter and enhance images, no matter how big or small the change may be. The changes can be

as simple as lightening or darkening the image, removing shadows, or changing colors, and as

major as adding or removing elements of the photo or enhancing or changing people or objects in

the photo. Oriez explained that the recent rise in photo manipulation is due to technological

advances made in the past few decades:Starting in the 1980s, electronic imaging (mostly

images scanned from film into computers at that time) made it possible to seamlessly move, add

or delete every element within a photograph, thus bringing image manipulation to a whole new

level.(Oriez, p. 5, 2009) The world of technology and what one can do with it seems endless,

as does the availability of it. The accessibility of editing software and the increased number of

journalists using these photo editing tools has created an upward, ethical struggle in the

journalism of our generation.

The pressure of being a journalist in this generation forces journalists to examine the

morals and ethics they base their individual career on. Journalists are constantly being tested and

pushed to their ethical limits because of the nature of the industry; they must decide what they

are willing to sacrifice for their career. Choosing a career over ones ethical limits can be a


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tough decision, and choosing ones standards over their career can be just as hard. Under the

pressure to break stories first, journalists often overlook their ethical code in order to be the best

and deliver the best story, no matter what lengths they must go to. The pressure to be on top as

well as the quick pace of the industry are just two of the reasons some journalists justify the

modification of photos:Photo manipulation is a quick route to good conceptual fit because the

symbolic nature of photos may be reshaped to match symbolic messages in the text .(Lowrey,

p. 133, 2003) Photo manipulation is a main example of journalists crossing ethical and moral

lines; lying with a photo and manipulating its content is the same as manipulating elements of

the actual written story. Still or moving images in journalism complement the story, but it is

important that the corresponding photo be just as truthful as the story itself. Altering an image to

make a bigger impact or fit the story better is unethical and breaks the mutual trust between

journalists and the public. Photographs used to represent a single moment captured in time, but

they can now be completely altered and enhanced at the touch of a button. Misleading or

fabricated photos violate the journalism code of ethics and discredit the journalist and the media

outlet they work for.

Although the issue of dishonesty in journalism and photo manipulation isnt a new one, it

certainly is more common in this generation. John Long, a previous National Press

Photographers Association (NPAA) co-chair and president explained that the foundation of

journalism will adapt to the changing times and fit the new society over time. The advent of

computers and digital photography has not created the need for a whole new set of ethical

standards. We are not dealing with something brand new. We merely have a new way of


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processing images and the same principles that have guided us in traditional photojournalism

should be the principles that guide us in the use of the computers. This fact makes dealing with

computer related ethics far less daunting than if we had to begin from square one.(NPPA

2011)

The line between artistic photos and journalistic photos is often blurred and

misunderstood by many; the ethics that apply to journalistic photos are far more limiting than the

ethics upheld for artistic photographs. The differentiation between the two needs to be addressed

because it is so easy to confuse standards and underestimate the limitations provided by the

journalism code of ethics. Photos are more likely to be altered ethically for artistic purposes

rather than journalistic ones, as described by Lowrey. He explains that if photos are for artistic

and aesthetic purposes, there are more leniencies when it comes to enhancement and alterations

(Lowrey 2003). Lowrey explained a hypothesis that demonstrates the differentiation between art

and journalism and their role on an ethical level. He suggested:The stronger the orientation of

the design staff towards journalistic professional norms, the greater the likelihood of the

existence of rules governing the photo.(Lowrey, p. 132, 2003) This means that when a

photograph is used for artistic purposes, there are few rules regarding what or how the artist edits

in the photo. But when a photograph is used for journalistic purposes, there are a series of rules

that should be followed when editing the photograph; essentially, a still or moving image used in

the media should represent the truth.

At an Ohio newspaper called the Toledo Blade in April of 2007, photographer Allan

Detrich became the subject of one of the most well-known and studied cases of photo


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manipulation of our generation. Confirmed by an editor at the paper who gave a statement and

an apology to the public after the ordeal, a photo taken and published by Detrich was found to be

digitally altered. The photograph was of the Bluffington baseball team who had just returned to

playing baseball after a deadly accident killed 5 of their teammates . The photo was missing a

pair of another photographers legs from behind the fence. It was discovered that Detrich had

edited the photos out when three other newspapers ran the same picture on the front page of their

newspaper, but with the legs still in place. When Detrich was asked about the missing elements

of the photograph, he replied that he wasnt sure what happened to them. The photographer later

claimed that he edited the photo for his personal files and accidentally submitted the wrong copy ,

but the Toledo Blade, as well as the public, was unforgiving, forcing Detrichs resignation just

days after the incident (Winslow, April 5, 2007).

After Detrichs photo editing scandal at the Toledo Blade became public, seventy-nine

more manipulated photos surfaced, which were published over a time frame of only fourteen

weeks. In many of the photos, Detrich didnt just retouch or enhance them; he used Adobe

Photoshop to take elements out of photos or edit objects into them and manipulate the images to

enhance the story and boost his reputation as a photographer (Winslow, April 15, 2007). The

aftermath of Detrichs dishonesty caused Toledo Blade executive editor Ron Royhab to plead the

public for forgiveness:Its impossible to make sense of why this happened, and we are

embarrassed by itIn this respect, we let our readers down, and we apologize for that and

pledge to you that we will do better.(Winslow, April 15, 2007) The embarrassment and


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ridicule that the Toledo Blade suffered after Detrichs scandal not only had an impact on the city

of Toledo, but it had a resounding impact on the integrity of journalism .

The Detrich was just the beginning of a chain of events. Angered readers took to internet

discussions and blogs to talk about the betrayal they felt after the incident and how they felt the

credibility of journalism was on the decline. Many felt that journalism was losing its credibility

as an industry that is supposed to uphold and represent the truth. The public had begun losing

faith in journalists long before this incident, but the Detrich case was a turning point because the

issue remained unnoticed for so long. The Toledo Blade apologized for the events and promised

readers that it wouldnt happen again. They issued statements and even ran a correction in a

following issue of the newspaper. The impact that this situation had on the journalism world was

minor in the big picture, but it represented an ever-present issue plaguing the ethical standards of

journalism (Winslow, April 15, 2007).

The impact that the Detrich case, as well as the increasing usage of digital photo

manipulation in journalism, has had on the media world has altered the foundation on which

journalism stands. Not only is the code of ethics changing and evolving to fit our technology-

driven society, but people are adapting as well. After several cases of photo manipulation

surfaced, many news outlets began setting rules stopping journalists from changing information

for a story as well as altering moving or still images for any purpose. In 1990, the Associated

Press issued a statement forbidding all employees from any change or manipulation of photo

content. (Gladney 1996) Some media outlets were even more specific with their rules, and


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specified which types of photos should be allowed to have some change , and which should not

allow any change. The distinction between hard and soft news pieces was a key factor in

whether or not the photojournalists were allowed to digitally edit the photographs. Another

factor in deciding what could be rightfully edited was what the actual image was representing in

the story. And even still, there are some changes that will always be allowed to be made to

journalistic photographs: dodging, burning, and cropping are all edits that are considered to be

neutral edits (Gladney 1996).

Digital manipulation has had a huge impact on journalism and is still changing the

foundation on which it stands. Digital photo manipulation and enhancement is making its way

into the media and is discrediting all journalists and causing more distrust of the public . Now

that this issue is slowly coming to light and more cases are surfacing , the public is becoming

more skeptical of journalists and their reliability in all forms of the media , including newspapers,

magazines, television, social networking sites, etc. It is already assumed that journalists spin

stories, and with the issue of digital photo manipulation becoming more prominent and playing a

huge role in our generation, it gives the public another reason to criticize and doubt the media .

Ethical standards are an important part of journalism because of the pressure they put on

journalists to decide for themselves the difference between right and wrong. Digital

manipulation of a photo is generally hard to catch and even harder to prove, which makes this

issue more complex. Even ethical journalists are being closely watched because of the faults of

others, and it is causing the public to lose faith in journalists . The impact that the changing


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society has had on journalistic ethics will only continue to grow , and with new issues of

credibility and fairness in the media, the code of ethics will also continue to evolve in the future .


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Works Cited

Gladney, George Albert, and Matthew C. Ehrlich.Cross-media response to digital

manipulation of still and moving images. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media

40.4 (1996): 428. Academic Search Complete. EBSCO. Web. 10 Apr. 2011.

Lowrey, Wilson.Normative Conflict in the Newsroom: The Case of Digital Photo

Manipulation. Journal of Mass Media Ethics 18.2 (2003): 123. Academic Search

Complete. EBSCO. Web. 10 Apr. 2011.

McQuail, Denis.McQuails Mass Communication Theory. 6th ed. London: Sage Publications,

2010.Google Books. Web. 10 Apr. 2011.

.


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NPPA.NPPA: Digital Ethics. National Press Photographers Association. 2011. Web. 10

April 2011.

.

Oriez, Richard J.Do Readers Believe What They See? Reader Acceptance of Image

Manipulation. Thesis. The University of Missouri-Columbia, 2009.University of

Missouri. May 2009. Web. 10 Apr. 2011.

.

Winslow, Donald R.In Ohio, A News Photograph Is Digitally Altered. National Press

Photographers Association. NPPA, 5 Apr. 2007. Web. 10 Apr. 2011.

.

Winslow, Donald R.Toledo Blade Discovers Dozens Of Doctored Detrich Photos.National

Press Photographers Association. NPPA, 15 Apr. 2007. Web. 10 Apr. 2011.

.

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