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April 28, 2008 01:00 pm
Editorial: Photograph in political ad bothersome
This past week, we were troubled by something that appeared in our own newspaper. We published a political advertisement on April 20 that contained a photograph that had been altered.
CNHI News Service
— Editorial: Photograph in political ad bothersome
Opinion: The Tribune-democrat, Johnstown, Pa.
This past week, we were troubled by something that appeared in our own newspaper.
We published a political advertisement on April 20 that contained a photograph that had been altered. We didn’t do the altering, but the image appeared in our pages all the same.
That should not happen.
The photograph appeared in an advertisement for William Stasko, a candidate for the 71st District of the state House. Stasko garnered 2,531 votes on election day and finished third behind winner Bryan Barbin (2,938) and Tom Chernisky (2,835) among Democratic candidates.
The image didn’t cost him the election, and it obviously did not win it for him either.
So – no harm, no foul?
Well, not really.
The ad showed Stasko standing before a crowd of “supporters.” The ad included the message: “We’re all behind William Stasko ... the people’s candidate.”
However, after closer inspection, it was clear that not all of the “people” who are “behind” Stasko in the picture were actually behind him the moment the image was taken.
There are 60 faces in the crowd. At least a third of them appear to be somewhere other than where they were when the photo was taken.
It was almost too obvious, once you stopped to look at the ad closely. People’s heads and bodies were disproportionate. People with sun shining on them were positioned next to people who did not have sun shining on them.
The picture came to the newspaper as it appeared in the ad, and as it appears on this page.
We called Stasko about the situation, and his explanation was that some people were on the sides of the picture and were clipped and moved to the rear of the image because the configurations of the ad would have left out those people.
An individual who appeared in the picture concurred, saying “it was mass chaos” when the picture was taken, and people were not bunched together as they should have been. So, someone “moved” them electronically to fit the space before putting the picture in the ad.
That individual had seen the ad and believed that all of those who appeared in it were there when the picture was taken.
At The Tribune-Democrat, we strive for accuracy and honesty in everything we do – both in reporting the news and helping businesses reach customers through advertising.
Our Code of Ethics contains this statement: “Photojournalists at The Tribune-Democrat will not alter image content, other than adjustments for color and clarity.”
Our Code of Ethics also states that journalists at The Tribune-Democrat will:
“test the accuracy of information obtained from sources,” and will ...
“avoid misrepresentation in all areas of coverage.”
It should be noted that the Code of Ethics is specifically for our news division.
Advertisements are neither “areas of coverage” nor do they involve “information obtained from sources.”
However, the information in advertisements should be accurate. In fact, we did reject some political ads when we saw that inaccuracies existed in their messages.
If all of the people were really at this photo shoot, and someone simply manipulated the image to get them in the frame, is that the end of the world?
No, but it is deceiving – even if it doesn’t rise to the level of devious.
If we aren’t careful, the next time it might.
What we always pledge to our readers is that things are what they appear to be.
This time, that did not happen.
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