Kerry Photo Altered, Used for Political Attack (FR, Registered Mentioned)

Berkeley Daily Planet ^ | February 17, 2004 | Richard Brenneman

[Timesink]

A UC Berkeley journalism lecturer's 32-year-old photograph of future Democratic U.S. Senator and presidential candidate John Kerry has wound up in a forgery that suckered the New York Times.

Ken Light, head of the photojournalism program at UCB's Graduate School of Journalism, has found himself in the eye of a media and Internet storm after a clever forger inserted an image of Jane Fonda alongside his image of Kerry and posted the composite on the Internet.

[Paleo Conservative]

[Tall_Texan]

I'm impressed. Other than the from-out-of-nowhere slam of the guy who runs vietnamveteransagainstjohnkerry.com, this is a solid piece of journalism even though it comes from Berkeley.

And it does speak to a larger issue which is when photo manipulations reach a point where photos can no longer be trusted to be what they represent. In truth, this has always been the case with careful cropping and framing you can mislead someone into thinking that something in the photo happened that isn't accurate. But the Photoshop crowd can really take it to extremes.

Personally, I enjoy the photo parodies as long as it is clear that this is what they are and not attempts to deceive the public. Just as with other forms of comedy, photo parodies are given wide latitude for public figures or current events. However, there should be a serious recognition by parties who create and publish photos that the integrity of photojournalism must be maintained or we will all suffer the consequences. It's hard enough to convince some people to believe the truth without giving them the easy out of claiming photographs are faked or doctored.

[Kryptonite]

It actually got them to thinkin' - Kerry/Fonda'04 "let's start with the premise that it's not a bad idea . . ."

[KQQL]

@

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

LOL

[Salvation]

We labeled it a fake before anyone else.

See #233

THE KERRY DOSSIER (post here anything you've uncovered on Kerry)

[onyx]

What are you doing up at this hour?

FR will cut us off in a hour, so what the heck?

[BigSkyFreeper]

John Kerry's appearance has been altered, by Botox. There's no getting around that fact.

[hole_n_one]

lol!

[hole_n_one]

I did that for dramatic effect.

Evidently it didn't work!

lol!

[Salvation]

sorry, it's in the 250s

[BigSkyFreeper]

FR has always been on the cutting edge. We're Rush's show prep.

[Political Junkie Too]

To be fair, TIME magazine got a lot of heat for darkening the mug shot picture of OJ to make him look more sinister.

-PJ

[BigSkyFreeper]

A Registered classic image for the ages.

[piasa]

"Fortunately, the media have risen to the occasion" and debunked the forgery. "The New York Times reported that the photo was forged and they printed both versions. Links to both original photos have been also posted at the journalism school web site (http://journalism.berkeley.edu), he said.

You didn't have to look that far afield to find a debunker, Berkely-critter. A Freeper debunked the image and spotted registered's work, and a whole lot of other Freepers were suspicious of it to begin with, asking the legendary Registered to fess up.

"The media is the guardian of the visual image," Light said.

Uh, sure... tell that to the LA TIMES! LA TIMES DOCTORED PHOTO

[BigSkyFreeper]

Good catch! I completely forgot about that photo!

[SAMWolf]

The Fonda picture was a fake planted by the DNC to discredit the real picture.

[onyx]

YES! The LATIMES' "doctored photo" Good going.

[Ruth A.]

Light was a 20-year-old photographer when he captured a sober-looking Kerry addressing a crowd of Vietnam War protesters in Mineola, New York, wearing the anguished Lincolnesque expression that's become a virtual trademark.

Actually, Kerry was sitting in his photo and it didn't look as though he was addressing anyone. So, I think Light is taking liberties with his description of the picture. Also, Lincolnesque seems more like squinting in the sunlight. Now, Kerry is just haggard when he is without Botox.

I can see Kerry's legs straight out in the composite while Jane is standing with a microphone. Someone should have thought that seemed mighty strange. Perhaps, that was Registered way of clueing folks in that it was fake.

[DoughtyOne]

Lincolnesque? How about Fondaesque! That'd be more accurate, truth in reporting and all.