Posted on 08/16/2006 8:17:46 AM PDT by Kryptonite
He initiated uproar that exposed ethics breach
The furor over a photograph began in such a quiet, ordinary way.
Mike Thorson, a Janesville artist and part owner of a tool distribution company, was sitting at his computer on a Saturday, checking a few news sites after looking at his e-mail. On Yahoo, he came across a Reuters photograph purporting to show the smoky aftermath of an Israeli air raid on the Beirut suburbs.
"As soon as I saw it something looked very strange," said Thorson, 39.
What he found led to a story that raced around the globe and resulted in Reuters' severing its ties with photographer Adnan Hajj.
Looking closely at the photography, he saw an odd pattern in the thick, black clouds of smoke rising from the bombed area. He recognized the effect, a bit of Adobe Photoshop magic called cloning.
To clone, you simply click on part of a picture, then paste an exact copy of that part somewhere else on the photo. Thorson recognized the effect because he'd used it. Sometimes he'd worked on catalog photographs of the tools his company distributes. Sometimes, on close inspection, he would find on the photograph a speck of dust, a piece of dirt, a hair or some other imperfection. By cloning, he could replace the imperfection with a clean image.
The photo on the Yahoo site was different, though. It was supposed to be journalism.
"I was shocked," Thorson said later. "This is supposed to be serious. Reuters is a very well-known and respected wire service."
Within minutes Thorson went to the political blog Little Green Footballs and sent a comment about his suspicions that the photo had been doctored. He thought of the blog because it had been among those questioning the authenticity of the documents "60 Minutes II" used in a report on President George W. Bush's record in the Texas Air National Guard.
The very next morning, Aug. 6, Thorson saw his suspicions posted on Little Green Footballs, and the story soon caught fire.
"I was really surprised that the story got to be as big as it did," Thorson said. "I certainly didn't mean for anybody to lose their job or anything like that. I am glad that it was exposed.
"I think people do need to have some sort of skepticism about the news: What's being presented? Who's presenting it? Do they have an agenda? What's being left out?"
I just spoke with Mike and sent him the thread. I hope he has time to come and say hi.
http://mikethorson.com/
MILITARY PHOTOS
Perhaps he is saying what will keep him safe now that his name and location have been revealed.
We are dealing with a vengeful enemy, giving this much information isn't in his best interest.
That's awesome, Doug!
Hope Mike shows up bump.
Get that guy over here to FR!
He has occasionally seen FR.
Yes, but was he wearing his pajamas?
"I'm listening to Fox News interview one of the passengers on that London-DC flight which landed in Boston . . ."
That was Greta Van Sustren. She wasn't on that particular flight, but was sharing her experience on a recent flight out of London. None of the passengers aboard this flight have been interviewed yet.
Thanks for the correction. Between reading/posting on FR and listening to the news on various channels, some bits of information are obviously falling through the cracks.
I hope he comes aboard too. He'd be an assett to FR.
I was wondering the same thing.....
PING me when one of the interviewed "passengers" yells out "Babba-booey" and "Stern rules!".
Within minutes Thorson went to the political blog Little Green Footballs and sent a comment about his suspicions that the photo had been doctored. He thought of the blog because it had been among those questioning the authenticity of the documents "60 Minutes II" used in a report on President George W. Bush's record in the Texas Air National Guard.
A more ACCURATE description would be "exposed the documents on '60 Minutes II' as modern forgies" and later exposed ties between the DNC and the path the letters took to CBS.
Also, it would be good to mention that Reuters had an employee who sent electronic death threats from work to Little Green Footballs PRIOR to this Reuters scandal.
I let him know that FR was the first to be on top of the National Guard documents.
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