Economist magazine alters Reuters photo for cover
Here’s the cover of the new issue of the Economist magazine:
OK, very good. Very good indeed. The photo is credited to Larry Downing of Reuters.
So why post it here? Because here’s that cover again, side-by-side with the original photo:
Not good. This is lazy design and lazy editing. Not to mention lazy ethics.
Jeremy Peters, the Media Decoder blogger for the New York Times, is all over this today. He writes:
When it comes to its own photographers, Reuters has stringent standards regarding photo editing. “Reuters has a strict policy against modifying, removing, adding to or altering any of its photographs without first obtaining the permission of Reuters and, where necessary, the third parties referred to,” Thomson Reuters said in a statement on Sunday.
Editors from The Economist had no comment when asked on Friday about the cover image.
Thanks to Greg Mitchell for blogging this today.
July 5th, 2010 at 1:07 pm
It’s not like Reuters have authority to talk about not editing pictures. You used the word I’ve looking for: lazy. Especifically, “lazy ethics”. It describes a lot of situations and mistakes I’ve seen.
July 5th, 2010 at 3:00 pm
I don’t get it.
July 5th, 2010 at 7:32 pm
At the least they should have said it was a photo illustration from a photo shot by Larry Downing of Reuters.
Stating as such should have nulled any controversy.
July 5th, 2010 at 10:06 pm
slakingfool: slapping a “photo illustration” label on a news photograph does not absolve the visual journalist (photographer, graphic designer, copy editor) of ethical lapses. It perpetuates a CYA mentality. The reader/viewer is still mislead. Our only value to readers is our credibility – once they stop believing what they see or read, we might as well just turn off the lights and lock the doors.
July 5th, 2010 at 11:19 pm
A lot of magazine covers and some inside images are manipulated. As a featurey effect, I don’t mind in many cases and it’s standard for 2010.
This, however, feels different. That image is so newsy in its composition and style. I think it’s a very bad choice.