Reuters Doctoring Photos from Beirut?
OK, now things are getting weird.
This Reuters photograph shows blatant evidence of manipulation. Notice the repeating patterns in the smoke; this is almost certainly caused by using the Photoshop clone tool to add more smoke to the image. (Hat tip: Mike.)
Its so incredibly obvious, it reminds me of the faked CBS memos. Smoke simply does not contain repeating symmetrical patterns like this, and you can see the repetition in both plumes of smoke. Theres really no question about it.
But its not only the plumes of smoke that were enhanced. There are also cloned buildings. (See below.)
Smoke billows from burning buildings destroyed during an overnight Israeli air raid on Beiruts suburbs August 5, 2006. Many buildings were flattened during the attack. REUTERS/Adnan Hajj
UPDATE at 8/5/06 5:15:55 pm:
Rob at Left & Right has isolated some repeating elements. Check out his animated GIF showing one section that is very obviously cloned.
Ace has been saying for a week that mainstream media is headed for a major meltdown, by outsourcing so much of their reporting to low-paid foreign stringers with highly questionable loyalties and ethics.
This looks like that meltdown.
UPDATE at 8/5/06 5:32:28 pm:
Heres another animated GIF I just put together, showing another section that is very obviously duplicated:
And heres a zoomed-in version of the above cloning example (step back from the monitor for the best view of the effect):
UPDATE at 8/5/06 6:01:37 pm:
Here is a slightly larger (but slightly lower quality) version of the photograph: Reuters Photo.
UPDATE at 8/5/06 6:52:08 pm:
Professional sports photographers are discussing the image here: SportsShooter.com - Odd photo from Lebanon...
Verdict: obvious fraud.
UPDATE at 8/5/06 7:04:54 pm:
The photographer who took this picture (probably also the person who doctored it), Adnan Hajj, is rather well-known to LGF readers. In fact, rather well-known to the entire world.
He also took this infamous photograph from Qana of the guy in the green helmet, parading a dead body around for pictures, featured on the front pages of newspapers worldwide: Yahoo! News Photo.
A rescuer carries the body of a toddler victim of an Israeli air raid on Qana that killed more than 60 people, the majority of them women and children, in south Lebanon, July 30, 2006. REUTERS/Adnan Hajj (LEBANON)
UPDATE at 8/5/06 8:11:06 pm:
IMPORTANT!
The possible original for this faked photo has been discovered. And it was taken on July 26, 2006, credited to the Associated Press, by Ben Curtis: Yahoo! News Photo. (Hat tip: LGF readers.)
Notice the lower right area of this photo, and compare to lower left of the doctored photo. Notice how all the buildings line up perfectly, including the oddly shaped building on the horizon. Im putting together another overlay to make it painfully obvious.
UPDATE at 8/5/06 8:33:02 pm:
Heres the overlay showing the common area of these two photos, clearly cropped from a larger panorama shot.
UPDATE at 8/5/06 9:17:20 pm:
A point to note: regardless of whether you agree that the July 26 photo is cropped from the same panorama shot as todays (I still think it is), it is still damning evidence because the one from today shows buildings that dont exist in the earlier photo, even though they are clearly from the same angle.
UPDATE at 8/5/06 10:19:23 pm:
Allahpundit calls it The worst photoshop Ive ever seen, and corrects Reuters lousy Photoshop work.
UPDATE at 8/5/06 10:23:49 pm:
Michelle Malkin reminds us of Reuters news-gathering policy, from the Reuters website:
Our policy is to send news to our customers only after scrutiny by a group of production editors who ensure quality standards are maintained across all our news services. When we get something wrong, our policy is to be honest about errors and to correct them promptly and clearly.
UPDATE at 8/5/06 10:27:13 pm:
If youd like to ask Reuters what the hell? here is their contact page: Contact Us | Reuters.com.
UPDATE at 8/5/06 10:30:31 pm:
Jeff Harrell says, Adnan Hajj isnt even trying anymore.
UPDATE at 8/5/06 10:48:59 pm:
Publius Pundit has another photo from the series. (Heh.) link: 828 comments
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westbankmama 8/6/2006 03:45AM PDT |
Charles has made it into the MSM - at least in Israel. Ynet is writing about his doctored photo post here: |
Could the pacifier on the baby be photo-shopped???
These clowns would get away with everything!
Thanks for that, you da best...
Great post Backhoe.
Thanks. When I first seen that picture, I thought, "WOW! I didn't know Beirut was as populated as Hong Kong."
Shouldn't Reuters subject ALL their photographs to simple statistical and technical tests prior to going out over the wires? Aren't they responsible for quality control, veracity, provenance and content? Or does forwarding an antisemite agenda trump all other considerations in the eyes of Herr Reuters' heirs?
This is Lucy Ramirez level sophistication. I certainly hope the source of this photograph is fired, at the least. What controls are in place to prevent this from happening again?
Like the political bias of CBS (huge, endemic, pervasive and deeply ingrained) does Reuters' bias insinuate itself into all its reporting, to point of rendering it a not so subtle propaganda machine for one side in this conflict? NOTE TO REUTERS CUSTOMERS: May I point out that was a rhetorical question, since you do not seem to be very quick on the uptake?
Great job.
AP should sue Reuters for plagerism as it appears the Reuters took their photo, photo shopped it and then put out their altered reality as their photo.
Good post backhoe.
Thank God for the educated wise eyes of the Pajama People all around the Net for their dedication to ferret out the truth from the lies fed to us by the Evil MSM.
I truly hate the MSM, like the Devil, they mix a little truth with a lot of lies to confuse us.
Excellent work, FRiend.
The Guard documents were much better fakes than this.