Standing in front of the audience, Kathleen Carroll, executive editor of the The Associated Press, held her smartphone in the air and asked, “Who is carrying a smartphone?” A wave of hands rose towards the ceiling, to which Carroll responded by reflecting on the ethical issue of photography: Photographs lie. As explained by Carroll, smartphones are great tools for news gathering and creating art through the ability to take photographs. But with this ability comes the power to distort, as tools on phones and other devices make it easy for anyone to create falseness in their photos. Also, creating falseness in a photo doesn’t require software, it can be accomplished by publishing a photo that depicts falseness by itself. The importance of addressing these issues is that, as Carroll stated, “Photographers and editors have a special duty of making sure photographs are truthful.”
The major unethical issue in photojournalism is editing an image to make it more newsworthy. With today’s software and editing tools, altering an image is quite a simple task, resulting in the publishing of untrue photos by the general public and professional journalists. The most important rule in journalism is presenting the truth, so why is photo manipulation still occurring? In the article “Medill prof featured on a panel about ethics and photo editing”, professor Craig Duff explains, “The challenges and high-pressure environment of journalism can cause photojournalists to make bad decisions…photo editing software like Photoshop makes it easier now than ever to manipulate photos, and in turn makes these enhancements harder to spot.” It’s quite shocking to know that journalists are valuing “quality” over the truth, and because the public relies on journalists to know what’s truly going on in the world, such journalists are destroying the purpose and duty of the media.
Photos that are accurate can also be false. Appearing on the projector screen during the conference were unaltered images that depicted people engaging in acts that weren’t actually happening. One of those photos was of french president Francois Hollande making a humorous facial gesture towards his audience. However, Hollande was just in the process of smiling, but the timing of the photographer resulted in an image that depicted falseness. The news organization that published the photograph, AFP, ended up removing it from publication almost instantly. In the article “Decision to withdraw unflattering photo of François Hollande is criticized”, Phillip Massonnet, director of information at AFP, explains,”It was decided to ‘kill’ the shot because we decided, in retrospect, that it brought nothing to the series [of images] in terms of information. Choices have to be made. With war photographs, for example, we may decide not to distribute bloody or degrading images.” This decision shows a respect for the medias obligation to report the truth and to refrain from publishing anything that wrongly degrades an individuals public image.
The importance of shedding light on these issues in photojournalism is to ensure that the truth is being presented to the public. Technology has allowed anyone to manipulate a photograph, and the ultimately the minds of the public. What’s being revealed is that too many journalists focus on succeeding through anyway possible, rather than sticking to ethical and moral guidelines. Because the media is vital to our understanding of world events, actions must be taken to ensure that we are being given the truth. Carroll has allowed me to understand that false photographs are a much more common occurrence in photojournalism then I previously thought, and that I should wait for the facts before basing my knowledge off of a photograph.
References
Medill prof featured on panel about ethics of photo editing. (2013, Nov 10). University Wire Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/1449748251?accountid=13158
Willsher, Kim. “Decision to Withdraw Unflattering Photo of François Hollande Is Criticised.” Www.theguardian.com. Guardian News, 4 Sept. 2013. Web. <http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/04/francois-hollande-photo-news-agencies>.