Squiggler

Malkin photoshop original photo found

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Qana and Green Helmet busted by German NDR

Still have doubts that the whole scene at Qana was staged ... watch this:

Germany`s NDR presents unpublished video footage from the Qana events, demasking "Green Helmet" as a cynical movie director, staging photographs with a liitle boy's body.

LGF, who has had the lead on the fauxtography story from the git go, weighs in.

Stephen Spruell at Media Blog:

Even after all the blog posts documenting Hezbollah media manipulation, seeing it with your own eyes on this video is something else entirely. And it makes these people look like fools:

I linked to Dan's post the other day, but it bears reposting it ... Qana Exposed:

Hezbollywood Exposed
By Dan on Media Bias

Hope no one minds my saying so, I first suggested the now infamous Green Helmet guy was directing the action in Qana two days ago in Qana Exposed. Charles and Roger's Pajamas Media, Allah and some others picked up on it, but I was seriously thinking my blogging days were done. I went I didn't sleep that night I was so cranked up over the post, which took me until 5AM to finish. And I thought it was the best thing I had ever done. When it didn't get the attention I thought it might, I started questioning myself ... thinking maybe I was going around the bend, somehow. Such is the life of a blogger, I suppose. We start half-way around the bend to begin with! LOL Spending the rest of the time worrying if we've made the full turn.

Shocking! New Green Helmet Blog. He's everywhere. (H/T: LGF). Fauxtos, fauxtos, fauxtos.

Dead Man Walking? This one you've gotta see ... UPDATE! Caption clarifies

CORRECTION ... via Ace of Spades who says that a full retraction may be in order since the caption of the photo reads:

TYRE, LEBANON. Wednesday, July 26, 2006: After an Israeli airstrike destroyed two buildings in downtown Tyre, Lebanon, one man helped another who had fallen and was hurt. As people searched through the burning remains, aircraft again could be heard overhead, panicking the people that a second strike was coming.

Yes, I would say that this explains it. I'll let the NYT off the hook for this one. However, I would like to point out that, unlike many in the mainstream media, the mistake, when caught, was immediately posted with a mea culpa for jumping to conclusions.

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My old eyes do not always see what all the sharp-eyed bloggers find in the fake photos being analyzed. I like it when they put big red arrows on the photos to show me what I'm supposed to be looking at, but in this case, it is pretty evident. Check them out and see what you think.

New York Times Busted in Hezbollah Photo Fraud!

By Gateway Pundit

** Dead Men Walking! **

From the New York Times photo essay by Tyler Hicks on July 27, 2006 comes this unbelievable fraud!

Click photos to enlarge for detail- notice the shorts!

Bizzyblog forwarded the "Dead Guy w/ no dust" photo this morning thinking that this guy looked pretty clean for a bomb attack!

Here is the post from this morning:
The NY Times Hezbollah Photo Dust Up

An anonymous commenter put the pieces together on this Hezbollah photo fraud this afternoon:

This photo is part of a photo essay entitled "Turmoil in the Mideast" - Reports from Israel and Lebanon: Attack in Tyre" accessible through the NYT website. All of the photographs are attributed to Tyler Hicks/The New York Times. The photograph shown on your site is photo number 6 in the array.

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/world/20060727_MIDEAST_FEATURE/blocker.html

"Dead Guy w/ no dust" shows up with hat in photo no. 2 (right side) pointing out something to the photographer.

Toys, toys and more toys ...

Under normal human experience, we would all find these photos full of pathos and mourn the loss of the children and the innocence of childhood that war necessarily takes from the young. But with all photos coming from Hizb'Allah bombing sites now in question, instead of seeing pathos we see fakery and wonder why there is no dust, or why the toys look so carefully posed in place. Take a look.

Related:

The blogosphere has been casting around for the right title to give to the whole fake photo scandal, coming up first with Reutergate. But there are already so many "gates," it seems a worn out phrase. Little Green Footballs has come up with a new title that I, for one, think is brilliant ... Fauxtography. And a hat tip to them for the above "Toys" link.

Ace has more:

 The Passion Of The Toys, Part II:  The Pooh Strikes Back

Clean and pristine toys seem to be littered on the ground at every Israeli airstrike. 

Are the Israelis dropping bombs with submuntions consisting of adorable plushies?  Cluster-Poohs, maybe?

These photos do not appear to me as dubious as the ones found by Slublog. 

Nevertheless, there is a certain rule that seems to be in effect for photographers in Lebanon:

If an Israeli bomb hits and you can't produce a corpse, at least produce a toy.

I know this much, the whole fauxtography thing is starting to piss me off.

Jeff Goldstein sums up in a post he aptly titles The Sandman’s Revenge:

Which is this:  war is unhealthy for children and other living things!

—Of course, so are bus bombs and exploding jihadis in seaside pizzerias—but that doesn’t sound quite so fraught when printed on a bumper sticker or worn on a colorful protest pin.

Faking a war

Michelle Malkin "VENTS" about the Reuters fake photos. Click to play.

Or you can watch it here. (H/T: LGF)

Photo (or is it Fauxto?)

Hezbollywood’s Dead Child Porn Cult over at Augean Stables. (H/T: Atlas Shrugs)

Recapping former phony photos

A recap of former doctored photos at The Jawa Report (H/T: Ace) I'm sure we'll see many more before the week is out.

Fox News watch has Eric Burns on right now explaining the Reuters photo with the duplicated smoke plumes.

Another Reuters retraction, different photograph ..

And another photo bites the dust, another retraction from Reuters, in addition, Reuters has now pulled all photos by the photographer Adnan Hajj.

Reuters admits to more image manipulation

News organization withdraws photograph of Israeli fighter jet, admits image was doctored, fires photographer. Reuters pledges 'tighter editing procedure for images of the Middle East conflict'

Yaakov Lappin

Reuters has withdrawn a second photograph and admitted that the image was doctored, following the emergence of new suspicions against images provided by the news organization. On Sunday, Reuters admitted that one of its photographers, Adnan Hajj, used software to distort an image of smoke billowing from buildings in Beirut in order to create the effect of more smoke and damage.

The latest image to face doubts is a photograph of an Israeli F-16 fighter jet over the skies of Lebanon, seen in the image firing off "missiles during an air strike on Nabatiyeh," according to the image's accompanying text provided by Reuters.

Reuters has recalled all photos by Adnan Hajj

Rusty Shackleford, owner of the My Pet Jawa web log , noted that the warplane in the picture is actually firing defensive flares aimed at dealing with anti-aircraft missiles.

And this statement from Reuters sounds slightly more satisfying than the one issued yesterday:

“There is no graver breach of Reuters standards for our photographers than the deliberate manipulation of an image", Reuters' statement quoted Tom Szlukovenyi, Reuters Global Picture Editor, as saying.

However, don't we constantly hear from the MSM how mainstream media is superior to bloggers because of their editors. The photographer might have doctored his own photos, but what about the editor who let the doctored photos through? Shouldn't they be disciplined as well. It is their job afterall.

Related:

Original photo debunking story here.

Update: Fox News video of the story is under "Latest News Headlines"

Michelle Malkin: All of Hajj's photos have been pulled by MargaReuterVille.

The Reuters rot goes higher

But Reuters is not a purely innocent victim of a rogue photographer. Hajj’s handiwork should have been discovered by any competent photo editor. Consider this: Power Line has published examples of two photos sent to the world’s media showing the same building in Beirut in ruins. One of the photos says it is evidence of an attack on July 24th, and the other photo says it is evidence of an Israeli attack on August 5th.

It should have been easy for any photo editor with two functioning eyeballs to detect the summer rerun of the photo. A very distinctive building with a multi-story geometric pattern on its wall stands adjacent to the wreckage and was clearly visible in both photos. There is no other word than “negligence” to describe this kind of editing. The only reasonable alternative is “complicity.”

Since the alleged indiscriminate and widespread bombing of Beirut is a cardinal propaganda theme of Hiz b’allah and its allies, repetitive use of the same photo as evidence of multiple attacks makes Reuters an ally of the terror group, fighting the information war on its behalf.

Experts in the field of public relations counsel getting on top of a problem when an organization is in a damage control situation. Staying ahead of your critics by quickly investigating and revealing the entire extent of the problem is the only way to go. Reuters has violated this well-accepted principle by refusing to admit that it has a serious problem with its photo editing.

An excellent post at the Democracy Project makes a few very salient points to remember (go read it all):

· What needs to be understood is that these are neither passing errors but rather part and parcel of Reuters’ longstanding and insistent bias against Israel.

· What needs to be understood is that this bias is a purposeful part of Reuters operating procedure and of its commercial strategy.

· What needs to be understood is that U.S. newspapers are a major source of Reuters’ revenue, and Reuters’ credibility is enhanced by being carried in U.S. newspapers.

· What needs to be understood, AND ACTED UPON, is that truth will not pressure Reuters to reform but only the complaints from these prime customers, the U.S. newspapers that pay for Reuters’ newswire.

And in the same Democracy Project article, he notes:

Roger Simon hits the nail on the head:

… it is worth noting that in order to justify this kind of behavior... hiring the heavily biased... to yourself, you have to pretend you are doing it for a "greater good." In this case that would not seem to be easy since Hezbollah is well known to be a religious fascist organization with sub-Medieval values rooted in misogyny, homophobia and the utter defeat of the Enlightenment. So how then do you find this "greater good" outside the financial viability of your institution? [Emphasis Added]

My question exactly. Why does the media support terrorists and help further terrorist activity? I just don't get it, especially with the American media. How is it that such a healthy segment of our society is so unhappy with their own country, the American way of life and politics, that they are willing to sell out their own country and values to those who would kill them instantly if given the chance? What makes them support a Cindy Sheehan who thinks the Iraqis were far better under Saddam Hussein than they are or will be with a democratic country? What makes them want to cozy up to the likes of Castro, or communits of any stripe? What went wrong in their lives to warp them so?

And I'm not the only one making this point (good post, read it all):

THE NEW YORK TIMES FINDS A NEW HERO: HASSAN NASRALLAH

By Horsefeathers

Totalitarian killers in pursuit of a murderous utopian agenda can always count on the New York Times to transform them into noble representatives of the popular will. Whether Stalin or Hitler, Pol Pot, or Mao, Fidel, Che or Arafat, the Times will humanize them. The archetype was cuddly Uncle Joe Stalin as seen through the eyes of Walter Duranty. Count on Duranty's successors to enlighten us about how personable these tyrants are, how charismatic, good to their pets and beloved by the people. Mass forced starvation, forced abortion, millions in gulags, genocide? Not part of "all the news that's fit to print". When atrocities like China's cultural revolution somehow do make it to the Times, they're accompanied by a barrage of articles explaining why such measures are really regrettably necessary. Furthermore, the Times helps us identify with the human struggles that burden these leaders. We learn of their personal kindness, their tragic family losses, their affability, their love of children and pets, but especially of how much they care for ordinary people, the kind of people the Times itself believes require help from their betters on its editorial Board.

MSM silence is deafening ...

Because of my back problems, I now blog from a comfortable recliner with my laptop on my lap (hmmm guess that is why they call it a laptop), where I can keep my legs elevated and save what little is left of this creaky body for the really important activities like walking to the bathroom. My recliner is naturally placed to be the comfortable chair for my TV, so while I blog, the TV is always on and almost always tuned to cable news. I channel surf and try to catch the latest breaking news at the appropriate times. I have waited and waited and waited some more to hear even one word regarding the scandal over the doctored Reuters photos. So far, in hours of TV listening, nary a word.

This morning I see that Newsbusters has addressed this issue:

Last night's report by Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs that a "Beirut burning" photo that was clearly and clumsily doctored with Photoshop editing tools had made it way onto the wires from Reuters has morphed into what must be considered a full-blown scandal that should, by rights, shake the news service and other "Mainstream" Media outlets to their very foundations, and force them to reexamine how they conduct and control their photojournalistic efforts around the world.

Yes, you would think that a media that thrives on the smallest discrepancies of politicians, celebrities and anyone on the conservative side of the aisle would at least mention a scandal that is attracting worldwide attention. A Hollywood actor/director makes some inappropriate remarks while blotto from alcohol and those remarks generate days of coverage, print, broadcast, and electronic, but deliberate falsification of pictures under the banner of one of the principal wire services gets nada. Let your mind imagine for a moment what the mainstream media, in particular the New York Times, would publish if the Bush administration doctored war pictures. There is something very wrong with more than Adnan Hajj's picture, the big picture is totally out of whack.

Newsbusters puts forth the following points to consider:

-- Reuters has "dropped" the freelance Lebanese journalist after the image in question was shown to be doctored ...

-- The wire service offered perhaps the lamest excuse ever offered in the history of photojournalism for Adnan Hajj ...

-- Several blogs have begun analyzing Hajj's available body of work (link is to a page containing the first 10 of an estimated 346), and it is not faring well under the scrutiny.

-- Drinking from Home has noted possible problems with Reuters photos from a different photojournalist.

-- To show that the idea of staging events may not be unique to Adnan Hajj, Sweetness & Light seriously questions, based on his whereabouts and his apparent nonchalance, whether the person the media reported as the father of a slain Lebanese girl was indeed her father.

... the ability of Adnan Hajj to be in so many places nearly contemperaneously might raise questions as to whether he has been the actual picturetaker on all of the photos submitted in his name.

-- Dumb Looks Still Free is proposing a set of guidelines for photojournalists, including a requirement that photos' "raw digital data (be) made available freely for examination by the public" -- before any touching up of any kind was done for publication purposes.

I would remind everyone that the MSM was quick to issue a "debunking" statement regarding the Qana photo questions. A "debunk" that noone that I can tell is taking all that seriously, as big questions still surround the Qana photos with "Green Helmet" and "White Tee Shirt."

Wars today, since Vietnam, are TV wars and psyops is the most important aspect of war in today's electronic and visual world. People do not take the time to read long treatises, they are influenced by what they see. Pictures are worth a thousand words. When those pictures are false, the conclusions reached by the viewer become false by extension. This is unacceptable. The media is fond of saying they only report the facts, but more and more we are discovering that there is alot of wiggle room in their facts. When one man's fact is another man's fiction, a picture of the actual event is often used to clear up the discrepancies, but when the picture itself has been doctored, posed, manipulated, or set up, its value is zero and we, as decision makers (voters) are left with nothing on which to base our decisions. I find this incredibly disturbing.

See also:

• EUReferendum announces new photo contest ...
• Is this the same woman?
• Reuters issues a statement of the photographer's excuse
• Beirut photoshopping? Updates - Is it Reutergate? - UPDATE II - Reuters admits guilt!!!

EUReferendum announces new photo contest ...

I just got this heads up in an email from the ever-vigilant Larwyn ...

CONTEST ANNOUNCEMENT

EUReferendum hereby announces the creation of the annual Green Helmet Award for the crassest example of journalism being manipulated for the promotion of terrorism and terrorist organizations. The runner up will receive the White Tee-Shirt Award.

We invite all our readers to contribute examples that they think deserve a nomination and we shall publish the examples on the blog as we receive them. Next July we shall ask an online panel to judge all the entries (or we might introduce a more widespread voting system) and announce the winner and the runner-up on July 30, in honour of Green Helmet's bravura performance in Qana.

There is a lot more at the site, more phoney shopped photos
found and a good piece on what Olmert said to Europe.

EU REFERENDUM HERE