It matters - otherwise they wouldn't do it. It mattered with OJ. Why? He was still black whether they made him look darker or not.
You tell me why it isn't unethical to tamper with the photos to deliberately make winners darker, but it is unethical to make criminals darker.
I'm not sure anyone tampered with the pics in the first place- why should they? Sounds more like a figment of your imagination.
Ma'am, your point about color saturation, or shade is very interesting to me, and I think quite relevant. I have read some interesting discussions about skin-color preferences within the Black community ( Sometimes referred to as the brown-bag test).
Any unwarranted shenannigans by the media should be called out, and I appreciate your expertise here.
I am kind of a semi-serious 'shutterbug', and love all your photos that I've seen . . .