The Jerusalem Post reports that the revelations that Reuters contributing photographer Adnin Hajj had doctored photos from the war in Lebanon has prompted a rush of bloggers crying foul on allegedly altered photos. The Jerusalem Post reports that outlets "including the BBC, The New York Times and AP...have been forced to recall photos or change captions following inaccuracies pointed out in online forums."
These pictures include the photos above, used by The Associated Press and Reuters, wherein what looks to be the same woman is crying before two war-torn locations on two separate dates. (The woman is distinguishable by the pattern of her clothes and, more specifically, by a scar on her right cheek, says the Post). Other questioned photos include a photo of a bombed Beirut bridge with "different captions stating that the bridge had been bombed on July 18, July 24 and August 5" and which were used by Reuters and AFP, and a photo essay in the New York Times wherein a photograph shows a man who appears dead — but in later photos is up and walking around (the Times issued a correction, saying the man had been injured).
The original Reuters photo was called out by blogger Charles Johnson of Little Green Footballs, who was tipped off by a reader that Hajj's photo didn't quite sit right. The discovery prompted scrutiny by LGF readers and spread to blogger Rusty Shackleford of The Jawa Report, who found Hajj's photo wherein an Israeli plane was doctored to look like it was dropping multiple bombs.
This is not the only example of propaganda and staged images coming from the Israel-Lebanon conflict: CNN's Anderson Cooper reported that, in Lebanon, Hezbollah strictly controls where reporters are permitted access and at one point staged a photo-op with speeding ambulances: "[O]ne by one, they've been told to turn on their sirens and zoom off so that all the photographers here can get shots of ambulances rushing off to treat civilians ... These ambulances aren't responding to any new bombings. The sirens are strictly for effect." CJR Daily's Paul McLeary examines that Hezbollah's "PR Effort" here, and the Los Angeles Times Tim Rutten examines how the MSM examines; that is, how they evaluate the images coming out of the Middle East. Rutten finds major news outlets alarmingly unconcerned about "what strongly appears to be wider fabrication in the photojournalism Reuters and other news agencies are obtaining from their freelancers in Lebanon."
