In Defense of War Photographers

Editor & Publisher ^ | Wednesday, August 23, 2006 | Greg Mitchell

[Armigerous]

...unfounded,my ass....this guy is just an apologist whose ideological sympathies are transparent

[NorthernRight]

More leftwing rationalization of journaistic fraud, and photomanipulation. Anything to criticize right-wingers, right-wing blogs and right-wing pundits.

Brazen and shameless partisanship on behalf of certain members of the MSM and their supporters.

[The Old Hoosier]

If they don't want to be tarred as liars, they shouldn't fabricate photographs.

Perhaps it's not fair that all of them are tainted by the acts of a few, but that's what's happened, so deal with it.

[the Real fifi]

http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/2006/08/corruption-of-media.html

[kingu]

It is this generalized high horsed preaching that has made Editor and Publisher one of the least worthwhile publications for editors and publishers.

Are all photographs bad? No. Are all doctored? No. Are there some that should be questioned? Absolutely. Did he say that? Yes. Should he have shut up afterward? Yes.

The best point to be made from such a publication should be: photo editors and newspaper editors failed in doing their job to the point where people question /everything./ Instead, the author screams about the question being even presented, whereas he should be screaming about the people who sparked the question in the first place.

And I bet that he buys the whole 'fake but accurate' thing too.

[wvobiwan]

Ha! LGF getting to ya Gregg?

So maybe one of dozens of outright frauds caught in JUST THE LAST FEW WEEKS was genuine. Rather than address the problem in detail, he blames it on a few bad apples.

War photographers trade access for propaganda support, it's the fallout from 4 decades of being told in journalism school that right and wrong don't matter: Get the story/picture that is most sensational.

The Internet is Gregg's enemy, and the eventual downfall of 'publishers' as he knows them. And it IS a political issue Gregg, because it's always overwhelming anti-Israeli, anti-American, anti-Christian.

[Jet Jaguar]

http://greenhelmetguy.blogspot.com/

[thoughtomator]

I suppose this is the Denial phase of grief for the imminent demise of the left-wing propaganda industry.

[Theo]

If this guy wants to be taken seriously, he needs to acknowledge that these photographers are using their craft deceptively. Perhaps there are some good photographers, but if he doesn't recognize the bad ones, we're left to assume the worst about all of them.

[crazyhorse691]

Sounds like somebody hurt the paparazzis feelings. Let's do it again. Maybe they will get the idea that they are being scrutinized.

[Westlander]

Where's Ernie Pyle when you need him?

[Sentis]

Reminds me of the Muslims telling us that their religion is one of peace and ignoring all the evil done by their co-religionists.

All the leftys are alike Muslim or Media whats the difference

[Chuck54]

Geez. Kind of like the old joke about 98% of lawyers are giving the other 2% a bad name. .....or something like that.

[Brad from Tennessee]

This guy is professional boot-licker. Editor & Publisher is a parasite that lives off a dying host--the U.S. establishment print news media. None of these people are going to die with a whimper. As the dinosaur dies they get shriller and more delusional.

[PioneerDrive]

If he really cared about the credability of photojournalists he would come down hard on anyone who manipulated a photo.

[Doctor Raoul]

You'll NEVER see Greg Mitchell's pasty white ass in Lebanon behind a camera. Not when they can hire poor, third world people of color at slave wages to risk and sometimes lose their lives for the Drive By Media.

Brave? Most of the "journalists" killed fit into the catagory above, not American or European types. What hyposcrites to count someone else's dead as your own.

[The Old Hoosier]

If he really cared about the credability of photojournalists he would come down hard on anyone who manipulated a photo.

You are exactly right. It says quite a bit that he isn't doing that, but instead defending the institution against "Right-Wingers."

[Triggerhippie]

Fake but accurate...

[The Electrician]

This broad condemnation, and the conspiracy theories, lodged against photographers in war zones -- who are risking their lives while bloggers risk nothing but carpal tunnel syndrome -- needs to be refuted.

Mitchell's article is foolish and it borders on the absurd. He shoots himself in the foot, as usual. He wails about those awful right-wing bloggers who paint with a broad brush and accuse the media at large based on only a few examples of fakery, wrong captions, and biased reporting. Then he does exactly the same thing that he has condemned, by finding a small number of people who have alleged photo manipulation where none may have been done, and then extrapolating it so that he accuses the entire right-wing blogosphere as being conspiracy nuts. He's the perfect example of the clueless leftist extremist who can dish out the criticism but can't accept any criticism of his media idols (in this case, it's war photographers who are sacrosanct, but it's a recurring theme of his whenever one of his sacred cows is the object of criticism)...