So Middle Eastern leaders met last Wednesday in Washington, D.C. to start a round of peace talks.
Naturally, there were photo ops that resulted in cool shots — like the one below, by Pablo Martinez Monsivais of the Associated Press — as the leaders walked into the East Room of the White House. From left to right, you’re seeing:
- President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt
- Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel
- President Barack Obama of the U.S.
- President Mahmoud Abbas of Palestine
- King Abdullah II of Jordan
However, what would you say if you saw that same photo used to construct a slightly… different… version?
Yeah. Egyptian president Mubarak — who was originally on the far left of the photo — is now leading the team down the red carpet. Not only has he been moved, he’s also been flopped.
Surely this didn’t actually appear in a newspaper, did it?
I’m afraid it did. This is how it appeared Tuesday in Al-Ahram, Egypt’s state-run newspaper:
Al-Ahram is also Egypt’s largest newspaper, with a reported circulation of over a million.
Here’s a photo of an actual newsprint copy:
And yes, it also ran like this on the paper’s web site:
OK, a few thoughts…
1. Make no mistake: This is bad. This kind of work has no place at all in journalism.
2. It’d be easy to make a case, however, that this isn’t journalism. This is a government-run agency. And as such, the paper isn’t subject to the rules of journalistic ethics. It’s subject only to the whims of its publisher: The government.
3. This is also not a U.S. — or even western, for that matter — newspaper. I’m in favor of advocating that journalists all over the world adopt ethical standards, especially in cases of Photoshop ethics. But it might be unfair to expect editors and designers at Al-Ahram to abide by standards they have perhaps never seen nor heard of.
4. Despite all that: This is bad. This kind of work has no place at all in journalism.
This thing is all over the blogosphere today. I first saw it at the Raw Feed, and the Arabist. Digging a little deeper, though, it appears the WaELK blog is getting credit for first pointing this out.
See the original photo — full-frame, presumably — as it was posted on the web site of the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
I’m reminded of Reservoir Dogs.
Yes, this is bad. However, your claim that people who don’t live in the “western world” must have never heard of journalistic ethics is worse. It’s uncalled for and it’s rude and it’s exactly the sort of underlying belief that makes dealing with the middle east so difficult. They have technology. They know how to read. They know how to use photoshop. And I bet they know all about journalistic ethics, too.
I think this is bad.
I agree with Estr. Your entire post smacks of “silly muslims thinkz they can haz photoshop skillz.” Cut out the pro western crap and just point out what a bad photoshop job this is. jeez.
What is wrong with pro western? I am tired of everyone else being allowed to flaunt their stuff.
This is nothing compare to what Fox News is trying to pull these days: the Obama speech editing, manufactured racism forcing a black woman to be fired etc.
But of course, Fox News marches on, no real repercussions at all.
Mubarak isn’t a ‘President’, he is a dictator.
Maybe you should use some of those ‘journalistic ethics’ and point out the truth?
(to give you the benefit of the doubt, most westerners do not even know that he is a dictator, because he isn’t portrayed that way in the US media at all.)
OK, guys, try this on for size instead: “They’ve heard about journalistic ethics, but apparently they really don’t give a damn about them.” Feel better?
what the egyptians might not realize is that Mubarak would never be rude and walk in front of Obama. Especially in Washington! it makes no sense.
BTW
some of the comments i read here are very sophomoric and i also know it is easy to criticize.
Yes i agree, Fox News is very partisan but in fairness, i have heard that CNN is not so pro american in south america. Adaptability! and don’t forget dinero! i will listen to CNN anytime before Fox.
“But it might be unfair to expect editors and designers at Al-Ahram to abide by standards they have perhaps never seen nor heard of.”
What! You patronising bastard,it is this statemwnt that is ‘not good’.
This is just the way it is. Internal consumption is an art all of its own in some ME/Asian where the state is in control. It is not a secret, nor really that subtle. Offending a head of state or not elevating them at every opportunity can get one incarcerated. Or worse.
Are you serious? This isn’t supposed to be a *photograph*, look at the context – it’s just an image header to an article. Every magazine does this kind of stuff all the time, of course they’re going to put the Egyptian president first because *he’s* the one that Egyptians are more interested in and will relate to.
They also Photoshopped out the tile floors, is Egypt against the Big Marble industry too? Like, they literally just needed *something* to start the article so it wouldn’t be a big retarded-looking page of text. You guys are reading way too much into this.
its ok, fox news do it all the time and i don’t see anyone complaining about it.
The shadows, they’re all wrong! THIS IS JUST LIKE THE LUNAR LANDING!
Thank you for sharing your insights.
I’m currently working on a piece about Islamophobia in the US media and “it might be unfair to expect editors and designers at Al-Ahram to abide by standards they have perhaps never seen nor heard of” is a fine example.
Several details point to this not being photoshopped from the “original”. Could still be shopped, but not from the original alone.
1. The position of Obama’s feet/stride is not identical and his cuff on his left leg is a different shape.
2. Mubarek’s stride is also different from photo to photo, not the difference in the gap and shape between his legs. And also not the position of his hands in relation to his body. “Flopping” does not magically create rotation on the vertical access, it merely “reflects” what exists. In other words, his right hand is mostly hidden in the first photo and would remain so ( as his left hand) in the second photo.
3. Additionally, Netanhayu’s stride is also completely different from photo to photo. Note also there is a gap between his left arm and his body in the second photo but not the first, as well as the sizable difference of the gap with the right arm as well.
4. Lastly, note the circle pattern in the rug by Abdullah’s left leg, less is visible in the second photo than the first. The cuff on his right leg is also a different shape in each photo.
I’m surprised they didn’t put Netanyahu way in back. Oh propaganda, it’s a powerful machine.
This reminds me of Ministry of Truth in Orwell’s 1984.
@ Esttr, 8:44 p.m. Sept. 16
“your claim that people who don’t live in the “western world” must have never heard of journalistic ethics is worse”
Writer’s actual claim:
“But it might be unfair to expect editors and designers at Al-Ahram to abide by standards they have PERHAPS never seen nor heard of.”
(Caps added) The writer is not claiming that non-western countries don’t have ethics, but rather that those writing for the Egyptian state-run newspaper aren’t familiar with western journalistic ethics. In other words–playing devil’s advocate.
Anyways, if the Egyptian government “[knew] all about journalistic ethics”, then they ignored them…which is worse than being (arguably) rude in suggesting that the Egyptian government does not have journalistic ethics.
I agree with artiste – it’s not even close.
Knee-jerk \stories\ like the one you posted here are bad. This kind of work has no place at all in journalism.
Then again, good thing this is a small time blog.. and not journalism.
You mean this kind of work has no place in journalism?
http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/07/10/in-an-iranian-image-a-missile-too-many/
@3 \But it might be unfair to expect editors and designers at Al-Ahram to abide by standards they have perhaps never seen nor heard of.\
What a stupid idea. People at Al-Ahram don’t know right from wrong and should be given a pass.
Liberal guilt, CHECK!
I am an Egyptian and this was pointed out on a few Egyptian websites a few days ago. This Newspaper is uber corrupt and being managed by Mubarak’s “dogs” as we call them in Egypt. These morons are trying to fool Egyptians, who in return are laughing so hard at this idiotic photoshop attempt. What a lame joke..can he die already? for the love of God this dictator is running the country for almost 30 years now! Disgusting! please die already…
Sorry but regarding point 3. Fox news has done far worse than this photo in the past and continues to shit on journalistic values from a great height. Compared to their daily work this photo is frankly pretty tame.
We have a lot worse here in the US, like fox news using footage from a different event than the one they are reporting on just to make it look bigger than it was…and they have done that more than once… this here is nothing compared to that kind of falsified TV news…