Reuters admits to cropping Israeli naval clash pics

[1bad65]

Wow. And what they did was edit out knives the protesters were armed with!

"The British-based Reuters news agency has been stung for the second time by charges that it edited politically sensitive photos in a way that casts Israel in a bad light. But this time Reuters claims it wasn’t at fault.

The news agency reacted to questions raised by an American blogger who showed that Reuters' photo service edited out knives and blood traces from pictures taken aboard the activist ship Mavi Marmara during a clash with Israeli commandos last week. Nine people were killed and scores were injured in the clash.

The pictures of the fight were released by IHH, the Turkish-based group that sponsored the six-ship fleet that tried to break Israel's blockade of Gaza.

In one photo, an Israeli commando is shown lying on the deck of the ship, surrounded by activists. The uncut photo released by IHH shows the hand of an unidentified activist holding a knife. But in the Reuters photo, the hand is visible but the knife has been edited out.

The blog “Little Green Footballs” challenged Reuters' editing of the photo.

“That’s a very interesting way to crop the photo. Most people would consider that knife an important part of the context. There was a huge controversy over whether the activists were armed. Cropping out a knife, in a picture showing a soldier who’s apparently been stabbed, seems like a very odd editorial decision. Unless someone was trying to hide it,” the blog stated.

In a second photo the unedited print issued by IHH showed blood along the ship's railing and a hand holding a knife as an Israeli soldier lies on the deck. Both the blood and the knife were missing in the photo that Reuters released.

Reuters on Tuesday denied it intended to alter the political meanings of the photographs.

“The images in question were made available in Istanbul, and following normal editorial practice were prepared for dissemination which included cropping at the edges," the news agency said in a statement. "When we realized that a dagger was inadvertently cropped from the images, Reuters immediately moved the original set as well."

Reuters has yet to respond to charges about the second photo.

This is the second time Reuters has been accused of manipulating photos. In 2006 a Reuters photographer, Adnan Hajj, doctored several photos of the destruction caused by Israel's bombing of Beirut. In one he added smoke to a panoramic picture of South Beirut to make the damage look more severe than it was. In a second photo, he showed a woman whose home had supposedly been destroyed in the same raid, but an investigation revealed that the woman's house had been destroyed prior to the Israeli strike.

Reuters later removed all of Hajj's more than 900 photos from distribution and severed its relationship with him. A photo editor also was fired.

What happened on the Mavi Marmara and who was responsible for the killing and bloodshed on the ship is still a matter of debate. Activists charge that Israeli commandos fired first and provoked the skirmish. Israeli commandos say they were compelled to use deadly force after they were attacked by people on board the ship."

Source:
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2010/06...ade-commandos/

Ask yourself this; Why would a news agency who says they just report the news intentionally alter the news? And why would they alter it in a way that makes armed terrorists look unarmed?

[sanjuro_ronin]

In any war, the first casualty is the truth.

[sanjuro_ronin]

Although I do get a laugh at Israeli commandos *****ing that people were fighting back when THEY stormed the ship.
To which I add they (the commandos) did a horrible job and I would have expected much better from them.

[1bad65]

In any war, the first casualty is the truth.

The liberal press has been caught lying and making up 'facts' outside of wars as well. But cropping out weapons in a pic taken where violence happened is very, very worrysome.

If Israel is at fault, why would the liberal press have to alter the facts?

[sanjuro_ronin]

The liberal press has been caught lying and making up 'facts' outside of wars as well. But cropping out weapons in a pic taken where violence happened is very, very worrysome.

If Israel is at fault, why would the liberal press have to alter the facts?

Dude, seriously, you think the media, ANY media is NOT bias?
Of course they are, that has been proven over and over.
Fact is Israeli troops boarded a foreign ship in International waters and they should have been prepared and they ended up killing civilians because they weren't prepared and that is pathetic on their part.

[dimethylsea]

Dude, seriously, you think the media, ANY media is NOT bias?
Of course they are, that has been proven over and over.
Fact is Israeli troops boarded a foreign ship in International waters and they should have been prepared and they ended up killing civilians because they weren't prepared and that is pathetic on their part.

You do realize that under international law if there is a blockade by a sovereign nation they can demand a ship stop and if it doesn't they can sink it on the spot right?

Let it through? Israel gets hammered.

Sink the ship? Israel gets hammered.

Stop and board the ship? Israel gets hammered.

What do you expect them to do? Lay down and die?

[sanjuro_ronin]

You do realize that under international law if there is a blockade by a sovereign nation they can demand a ship stop and if it doesn't they can sink it on the spot right?

Let it through? Israel gets hammered.

Sink the ship? Israel gets hammered.

Stop and board the ship? Israel gets hammered.

What do you expect them to do? Lay down and die?

You need to re-read my posts, they did a LOUSY job and are complaining because the others guys fought back !
Grow a pair and do it right!
It was a bad done boarding and they should have done much better and IF they expected to find "bad guys" they should have been ready for it and if they DIDN'T expect to find bag guys, why board it that way?

[1bad65]

Dude, seriously, you think the media, ANY media is NOT bias?
Of course they are, that has been proven over and over.

Bias is one thing, and yes I know it happens. Liberals are the ones who deny it, despite the repeated incidents. But this isn't simply bias, it's intentionally altering the facts.

Fact is Israeli troops boarded a foreign ship in International waters and they should have been prepared and they ended up killing civilians because they weren't prepared and that is pathetic on their part.

The fact is Israel said that ship could dock in the Israeli port of Ashdod and after inspection the cargo would be distributed in Gaza (minus any banned cargo). The flotilla said no. So in effect they openly admitted they were engaging in smuggling, a crime. When you openly brag about the crimes you plan to commit, you may cause yourself alot of problems.

[1bad65]

You do realize that under international law if there is a blockade by a sovereign nation they can demand a ship stop and if it doesn't they can sink it on the spot right?

What do you expect them to do? Lay down and die?

I agree 100%.

I'm stunned.

[sanjuro_ronin]

There were at least 5 different ways for them to got on board and NOT go through that crap, IF they knew to expect trouble, I KNOW this and I am not and was not spec ops in the army, just a simple ol sniper.
They ****ed up because they assumed it WASN'T a hostile ship.
If they thought it was they would not have done it hat way.

[GeneChing]

The graphic artist laying out that article with that photo may have cropped it just because he or she was going for a close up. There may not have been an intention to alter it as an intentional manipulation. As a publisher, we crop photos like this all the time. I can totally see an overall compositional reason for cropping it so. It's just a shame that whoever cropped it missed the dagger.

I'm willing to give Reuters the benefit of the doubt on this.

[dimethylsea]

I agree 100%.

I'm stunned.

You will find I tend to be rather odd out on the subject of Israel.

I think America meddling in the Middle East is a horrible idea.

I also think the Arabs are making a huge mistake messing with a bunch of crazy Zionists and if they are not careful they will wind up with Damascus, Tehran and possibly Cairo as glass parking lots.

Lots of rich Arabs and and non-Arab (but still Muslim) regimes have alot of fun f*cking the Palestinians while pretending to be their "dear Muslim brothers".

When it gets right down to it.. the Israelis own the land by right of conquest (oldest law of all). All this activism and such is designed to force Israel to capitulate without recourse to a serious war (one which Israel probably wouldn't survive, but certainly would take down their enemies screaming).

Should America be involved? H&ll NO! Let the crazy Zionists show their enemies the "law of kings". The Zionists decided to go there and hold that patch of turf against all comers. Let them handle it.

Dead men drinking poison rain in the shadow of a mushroom cloud isn't pretty.. but that's where it's headed as long as the Jews are intent on being their own cultural entity in Palestine and the Arabs aren't prepared to allow that.

[David Jamieson]

There were at least 5 different ways for them to got on board and NOT go through that crap, IF they knew to expect trouble, I KNOW this and I am not and was not spec ops in the army, just a simple ol sniper.
They ****ed up because they assumed it WASN'T a hostile ship.
If they thought it was they would not have done it hat way.

they assumed it wasn't hostile because they had already checked the other 5 of 6 ships in the flotilla without any incidence.

For some reason, all the whacko's were on board that 6th ship and yes, Reuters lost some credibility huge by doing what they did.

Israel was acting within international laws.

The problem IS STILL Hamas and those people who blindly listen to them because they are shown some tragic photo or other piece of propaganda that they produce in abundance!

I'm not saying Israel isn't going to make these errors and I do think it was an error to board when and how they did (rappelling from a chopper was an error). But had any of those ships crossed the 12 mile territorial waters and didn't submit to inspection, then it is indeed within Israel's rights under international law to sink them and all aboard, no questions.

I don't think the powers of the west are ever going to sympathize with Hamas period. I don't know why they even bother. Only the hippies who don't know anything get riled up about it.

IMO, Israel should just cut Gaza loose and let them create their own state. Problem solved, keep the wall up, keep the checkpoints up and keep patting them down because they will keep bringing the terror. It won't end otherwise.

I don't even think that Palestinians will be satisfied when they get their state.
I guess I don't respect their government or their "nation". I know they're just shlubs like anyone else, but, if it gets to brass tacks, I am not siding with Hamas or the people of Palestine who support them.

[dimethylsea]

IMO, Israel should just cut Gaza loose and let them create their own state. Problem solved, keep the wall up, keep the checkpoints up and keep patting them down because they will keep bringing the terror. It won't end otherwise.

I don't even think that Palestinians will be satisfied when they get their state.
I guess I don't respect their government or their "nation". I know they're just shlubs like anyone else, but, if it gets to brass tacks, I am not siding with Hamas or the people of Palestine who support them.

David,

I would be interested in hearing a balanced forecast of whether the missiles would stop if Israel gave full sovereignty to Gaza.

The usual response to "give them a state and build a huge wall on the Israeli side" is "well what happens if they stockpile a crapton of missiles in Gaza and start firing them off.

Well in fact.. if two neighbor nations exist, and people in one nation are shooting missiles into the other... then the nation attacked has the right to expect the first country to maintain a force monopoly in their own territory and stop the problem.

If they don't.. the nation attacked can declare war and bomb them into oblivion.

Perfectly legal under international law.

So the question becomes...
1.) Would the missile attacks stop if Israel made Gaza it's own country?

2.) If it didn't.. would the world be willing to see massive civilian casualities when the Israeli's REALLY brought the hammer down.

It would be perfectly legal for them to do so.

I've already said what I think we should do.. let the Zionists and the Jihadis play chicken and we should get off the road.

[1bad65]

I'm willing to give Reuters the benefit of the doubt on this.

I might be more willing to also, except for the fact they were recently caught ADDING smoke to a pic involving Israel. Also, there was a 2nd pic in this incident that had blood and a knife cropped out.