Photo Doping

In light of the recent exposing of widespread photo-doctoring, photographing of staged scenes presented as spontaneous events, and miscaptioning of photos that deceive the reader, Big Journalism could well use its own anti-doping agency.

Reuters is starting to remind me of the East German women's swim team. After two decades of mockery of the success of their obviously steroid-ridden team, they were at last officially revealed as scammers.

People have long suspected the media of photographic chicanery. It's said that where there's smoke, there's fire; but in Reuters' case where there's smoke, there's more smoke -- big billowy clone-stamped clouds of it -- and the fire you see is in a photo of a garbage dump of burning tires that's been staged and captioned as a war scene.