The AP’s Faux Fauxtography Outrage

The AP, which has brought us such great fauxtography scandals such as “the old lady in Beirut” and “Green Helmet Guy” has found a case of fauxtography they can get really upset about. Naturally it’s because they think the "bad guy" in the story is the US military.

AP says that adjusting photos and other imagery, even for aesthetic reasons, damages the credibility of the information distributed by the military to news organisations and the public.
"For us, there's a zero-tolerance policy of adding or subtracting actual content from an image," said Santiago Lyon, AP's director of photography.
Mr Lyon said AP was developing procedures to protect against further occurrences and, once those steps were in place, it would consider lifting its ban on the use of US Department of Defense photos. He said AP was also discussing the problem with the military.
Colonel Cathy Abbott, chief of the US Army's media relations division, said the Dunwoody photo did not violate army policy that prohibited the editing of an image to misrepresent the facts or change the circumstances of an event.

So did the Army manipulate a battle image? Stage a scene to make a general look heroic and triumphant on the battlefield? Not so much. They added a flag to an image to create a headshot of the first woman to reach the rank of Four Star General.

Would it have been better if the Army had just put the general in front of a flag? Sure it would have. But is this really the most egregious case of fauxtography in the world? Of course not. It’s not a ‘news’ event, it’s a freaking head shot.

Of course the AP is well known for holding double standards that benefit them and only them.

(h/t XBradTC)

Posted by: DrewM. at 10:58 AM

Comments

1 Is that a dog in the picture on the sideboard?

Posted by: toby928 at November 20, 2008 11:03 AM (PD1tk)

2 It also looks like it was cleaned up, as her skin is smoother and more evenly toned in the right picture.

This is no different than what ANY commercial portrait studio would do.

Posted by: Naqamel at November 20, 2008 11:03 AM (UMwMT)

3 "For us, there's a zero-tolerance policy of adding or subtracting actual content from an image," said Santiago Lyon, AP's director of photography.

Now, if she had only been shown holding a picture of a decapitated teddy bear or a shredded wedding dress.... That would have been fucking AWESOME!

SOMEBODY GET THE GRAPHICS DEPARTMENT ON THE PHONE! NOW!!

Posted by: AP at November 20, 2008 11:03 AM (wWwJR)

4 it would consider lifting its ban on the use of US Department of Defense photos. He said AP was also discussing the problem with the military.

But we are still cool with using any and all photos sent to us by the Iranian Department of Defense or any al Qaida stringers.

Posted by: AP at November 20, 2008 11:06 AM (wWwJR)

5 Well if the ap had their choice, they would have placed her in a picture with dead Iraqi women and children.

Posted by: Ginger at November 20, 2008 11:07 AM (s/emF)

6 Now I'm wondering if the only reason they're upset is because of the American Flag background. Had they used a standard maroon background or some open sky background would the AP still get upset?

Posted by: Naqamel at November 20, 2008 11:09 AM (UMwMT)

7 General Liberace!!

Posted by: quiggs at November 20, 2008 11:10 AM (K8IUS)

8 Note to AP: Fuck you and your intellectual dishonesty. Faggots.

Posted by: Editor at November 20, 2008 11:10 AM (GTpOW)

9 The AP needs to let sleeping dogs lie on this one.

A cut-and-paste of the general onto a flag backdrop and some minor clean-up work is nothing compared to the staged photos they've either taken at the behest of the PLO and/or Hamas or the "sweetened" photos of debris, rocket trails, or smoke taken as the result of Israeli attacks on peaceful Palestinian citizens.

Posted by: Brandon In Baton Rouge at November 20, 2008 11:11 AM (20+6J)

10 Wow! The AP has balls as big as pickle jars!

Posted by: dfbaskwill at November 20, 2008 11:12 AM (4L5Tl)

I want a FoxAP.

Posted by: Anonymous at November 20, 2008 11:13 AM (RsaX9)

12 And where's the halo, guys?

Posted by: andycanuck at November 20, 2008 11:14 AM (6rN+7)

"For us, there's a zero-tolerance policy of adding or subtracting actual content from an image," said Santiago Lyon, AP's director of photography."

They are shitting us right? BTW, thats a hard core old broad of a General. Notice the Master Blaster wings. Claudia Kennedy she ain't. Screw off AP.

Posted by: MAJHAM at November 20, 2008 11:14 AM (vn910)

What I would like to see is a black-listing of ALL AP media and stories. There is no point in even trying to deal with these shit heads any longer.

Posted by: Vic at November 20, 2008 11:15 AM (Qd7GC)

15 how else can you say it... the AP is a (collective) commi rag

Posted by: w2 at November 20, 2008 11:18 AM (MobLv)

16

This Santiago Lyon is king douche bag. He is closely associated with Bilal Hussein:

(The military said Hussein was captured with two insurgents, including Hamid Hamad Motib, an alleged leader of al-Qaida in Iraq. “He has close relationships with persons known to be responsible for kidnappings, smuggling, improvised explosive device (IED) attacks and other attacks on coalition forces,” according to a May 7 e-mail from U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Jack Gardner, who oversees all coalition detainees in Iraq.)

Here is a good link:

http://proteinwisdom.com/?p=9678

Posted by: Uniball at November 20, 2008 11:19 AM (27iEn)

17 The AP took one look at Santiago's last name and promoted him to the Department of Message Conformity Compliance, Photographic subsection.

Posted by: sherlock at November 20, 2008 11:28 AM (fKPuo)

18 They better not ever print the photos of General MacArthur returning to the Phillipines.

Posted by: polynikes at November 20, 2008 11:30 AM (m2CN7)

19 Or the photos of the raising of the flag on Iwo Jima.

Posted by: polynikes at November 20, 2008 11:30 AM (m2CN7)

20 Having worked in a photo department for the Army, I can tell you that this is standard procedure when we need to change our Chain of Command board with a new General or administration official. Often, the promotion happens but the person in question hasn't had time to sit for a new photo. But the chain of command boards need to be updated immediately.

Posted by: bjjfiter at November 20, 2008 11:31 AM (TdgA9)

21 Polynikes, I think the AP standard is that you can stage photos, you just can't digitally alter them. YOU can't. AP can.

Posted by: xbradtc at November 20, 2008 11:33 AM (KVsz1)

22 Now I'm wondering if the only reason they're upset is because of the American Flag background.

Plus it's too flattering. No blood dripping off her fangs, and she looks female...

Posted by: HeatherRadish at November 20, 2008 11:33 AM (yG+tb)

xbradtc at November 20, 2008 11:33 AM (KVsz1)

You're right. I forgot about the teddy bears and toys staged in the bombed out ruins they printed. My bad.

Posted by: polynikes at November 20, 2008 11:39 AM (m2CN7)

24 The AP needs a flaming-rocket-ball enema.

Posted by: right at November 20, 2008 11:39 AM (pMGkg)

25 I'd hit ...

Posted by: Barocrates H. Yomama at November 20, 2008 11:46 AM (uiKEv)

26 Do they think anybody buys this bullshit?

Yes, that's rhetorical.

Slu, can you work on that a little? Maybe put an unspent round in there and have the General claiming it hit her hut?

Posted by: runninrebel at November 20, 2008 11:46 AM (0n9wc)

27 Dude... I had this story on Monday. Where were you?

Posted by: Brian L. at November 20, 2008 11:47 AM (GzvlQ)

28 I, for one, am outraged by this outrageously outrageous outrage!

Posted by: DelD at November 20, 2008 11:48 AM (Yw/4J)

29 So I guess that P-Shop I'm working on of the Office of the President-Elect with two tranny hookers and kilo of blow won't fly, eh?

Posted by: Fritz at November 20, 2008 11:56 AM (aaGD+)

30 The AP's position reeks of the attitude we see on college campuses that ban ROTC or military recruiters: the U.S. military is evil. I wish there was some way of denying these people the protections and benefits the U.S. military provides for us and for so many worldwide, but I don't think that is possible. The true evil emanates from the minds of these people, who would see the U.S. ravaged by every predator on earth in order to avenge some imagined wrongs. I hate these people more than I can express.

Posted by: lmg at November 20, 2008 11:56 AM (A/vgC)

31 Brian, I just came across it last night. The key thing is, I emailed Drew. Drew doesn't have time to read my crapblog (but all you morons DO).

Posted by: xbradtc at November 20, 2008 11:58 AM (KVsz1)

32 I read a similar AP article in response to BO's birth certificate. Not!

Posted by: robtron12 at November 20, 2008 12:05 PM (gue+Q)

33 Posted by: xbradtc at November 20, 2008 11:58 AM (KVsz1)

While I appreciate the tip, we need to have a chat about how the blog whoring thing works.

Write your post first and send that to me so I can link it. You get the traffic of an Acealanche but more importantly, I don't have to go to the trouble of writing a post! Believe me, the first thing I did when I got your email was to look at your blog and see if I could link it. You didn't have a post on it so I had to do all the hard work of writing a crappy post.

Trust me, one way bloggers are like reporters...the more work you do for them, the better the results you'll get.

Posted by: DrewM. at November 20, 2008 12:06 PM (hlYel)

34 You know, I really don't like the new camo patterns...

Posted by: Taupe at November 20, 2008 12:25 PM (W0B71)

35 Drew, what part of me being a moron don't you understand?

Posted by: xbradtc at November 20, 2008 12:25 PM (KVsz1)

36 The AP should know all about slippery slopes, they're already at the bottom of one.

Posted by: rockhead at November 20, 2008 12:26 PM (DvaIL)

37 Wasn't there some journo p-shop a few years back of US troops pointing their weapons at civilians? Who did that, Reuters or AP?

Posted by: lauraw at November 20, 2008 12:26 PM (4Uxq1)

38 DrewM: But is this really the most egregious case of fauxtography in the world? Of course not.

You didn't mention that the comparison looks like a Proactive before-and-after, which IS pretty damn egregious. A flawless dermis is no joke, and neither is faking one.

Posted by: Jazz at November 20, 2008 12:30 PM (hnq5i)

My conversational skills since Obama's election have been limited to "Kiss my rosy red butt." (Mainly because I try to exercise some self control and not say anything too salty.)

So here we go again. AP can kiss my rosy red butt.

Posted by: Harry at November 20, 2008 12:33 PM (J6QDn)

40 Wasn't there some journo p-shop a few years back of US troops pointing their weapons at civilians? Who did that, Reuters or AP?

LA Times, I think.

Posted by: Slublog at November 20, 2008 12:37 PM (R8+nJ)

41 Just so everyone is clear...my comment to Brad @ 33 was in jest. I do appreciate the heads up and the chance to write a post kicking the AP in the balls.

Posted by: DrewM. at November 20, 2008 12:46 PM (hlYel)

42 AP = pos

Posted by: TennDon at November 20, 2008 12:48 PM (TTjg8)

43 Our long national nightmare is over. I for one and grateful that the AP has decided to take a stand against this egregious abuse of journalistic credibility. They are so courageous for taking a stand against the eeeevvvilll military-industrial complex and I applaud them as they stand alone in their crusade.

/snark off.

Posted by: MFn G I M P at November 20, 2008 12:56 PM (Qecny)

44 What about Condi and the p-shopped Mike Singletary on roidrage eyes. Was that AP or some other group of patriots shitstained vajayjays.

Posted by: pendejo grande at November 20, 2008 01:01 PM (Y65Rl)

45 So the fact of the US Army having its first female 4 star general gets overshadowed by this faux scandal. Nice to know that misogyny is alive and well.

Posted by: Long Island at November 20, 2008 01:17 PM (9f5NQ)

This makes me so friggin' mad. Screw the AP...again. Absolutely ridiculous. Why does it seem the entire world, both inside and outside this country, is doing everything it its collecive power to taint anything remotely held in esteem to conservatives? I need flipping blood pressure medicine just to get through the damned day anymore....

True morons have it made. Ignorance is bliss. For the rest of us...not so much bliss.

Posted by: Twinks at November 20, 2008 01:31 PM (7QUxD)

Looking at the original, I'm thinking the photoshopping was in all of our best interests.

Not to say she's not an attractive woman, but I hear Richard Crenna's thinking of playing her in the movie.

Posted by: PalinFan at November 20, 2008 02:38 PM (IzUmo)

48 In a just world the feminists would echo our opinion of the AP.
Come the fuck on. The first female four star . Women like this are much rarer than astronauts.
I don't mean the AOS feminists , by the way,I mean the establishment feminists.

Posted by: aubrey at November 20, 2008 02:39 PM (1YVnX)

49 Coming from the AP, that's REALLY rich.

Posted by: irongrampa at November 20, 2008 02:58 PM (ud5dN)

It's a press release photo - so what?

How often do the photos of columnists in newspapers get updated? Based on that standard, this is perfectly fine.

Posted by: Mikey NTH at November 20, 2008 04:55 PM (TUWci)

51 It's still bullshit to alter a photo no matter what. Plus sick of the whole splittail in camis bit.

Posted by: TCO at November 20, 2008 08:13 PM (nfuZQ)

52 This is an irrelevant incident, but it does serve as another opportunity to criticize the AP for their history of photo manipulation and deceit. Of course the illuminati MSM is going to manipulate and lie to us, that's what they do. If they can't find the real dirt, they'll make it up.

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