Category: Ethics

Perpetuating the Visual Myth of Appalachia

PageImage 501825 2823512 73 appalachia C2 A9Stacy Kranitz
Link: Walk your camera.

As you can imagined I am in a state of shock. I feel ashamed and humiliated for trusting CNN. I am stunned that they would take my work out of context. I spent a long time looking at their website before agreeing to show my work and in no way did I see any indication that they were subverting photographers work to lead to controversy that would provide greater visibility of their site. Still, I take responsibility for not knowing better.

via Duckrabbit

Associated Press teams up with North Korean State Media for photo exhibition. What?

Screen Shot 2012 04 18 at 8 46 59 AM
Link: Korean Central News Agency

The Associated Press collaborated with North Korea’s state media outlet (KCNA) for a photo exhibition in New York City that opened last month. I tracked down the video on the KCNA page here: http://www.kcna.kp/kcnadata/graphics/emedia.flv

Here’s some information on the Media of North Korea page at wikipedia:

Kim Jong-il’s book, Guidance for Journalists, advises that “newspapers carry articles in which they unfailingly hold the president in high esteem, adore him and praise him as the great revolutionary leader”.[5] Media reports in North Korea are often one-sided and exaggerated, playing “little or no role in gathering and disseminating vital information true to facts” and providing propaganda for the regime.[6]

Wikipedia page on KCNA: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Central_News_Agency

Screen Shot 2012 04 18 at 9 10 48 AM
Photo by KCNA

Here’s the AP story on the exhibit:

Link: N.Y. show captures snapshots of North Korean life (SFGate)

“Windows on North Korea: Photographs From the DPRK,” is a joint exhibition by the Associated Press and the state-run Korean Central News Agency, and features a mix of archival and contemporary images.

It’s an appropriate question to ask— why is the Associated Press putting its work alongside that of the KCNA, an unethical “news outlet” run by a government who keeps a reported 150,000 to 200,000 of its own starving citizens in prison labor camps?

Who should win this years ‘sanctioned incest’ worldpressphoto@ multimedia awards and why they probably won’t


Link: duckrabbit

‘No conflict of interest’ in voting for your own agency?  I’m beginning to wonder what in the world of photojournalism actually would be considered a ‘conflict of interest’?

Speaking for NOOR images Claudia Hinterseer was kind enough to explain to Brook how the photography competition scene works

‘Looking at other international photography contests you will be amazed how often jury members are professionally or – as is very common in our industry – personally (on the basis of friendships) related to photographers whose work is rewarded.’

Graphic images A discussion about photo editing and the decision to use them or not

SHOOTING CROPPED
Link: Tulsa World

when a situation like yesterday’s shooting in the plaza near the courthouse occurs, that process becomes all the more important. The decision to publish a photo that some may view as offensive or graphic was not taken lightly. The decision did not rest solely on the shoulders of one person. It was a group decision and it came after a discussion

Photo Manipulation Scandal Follows Same Old Script


Link: PDN Pulse

The contrarian this time is On the Media host Bob Garfield, writing for The Guardian. He satirizes Patrick as “the Great Satan” and says “let him suffer the fate of the frog!” He then raises that pesky question: “Don’t all journalists alter reality?” Finally, he asks this rhetorical humdinger: “[d]id he [Patrick] misrepresent the story, or did he perhaps just make it clearer?”