LEBANON: Reuters, the international news agency, has dispensed with the services of a freelance photographer after discovering that he had doctored a picture of the aftermath of an Israeli air attack on Beirut and other events in the conflict.
The photo, by Lebanese freelancer Adnan Hajj, had been altered so it showed more smoke than was in the original. The image was published on news websites last Saturday, but withdrawn after a number of bloggers suggested it showed signs of being doctored using Photoshop software. Reuters withdrew the altered image as soon as it became aware of the alteration.
"This represents a serious breach of Reuters's standards and we shall not be accepting or using pictures taken by him," Reuters spokeswoman Moira Whittle said in a statement issued in London.
"The photographer has denied deliberately attempting to manipulate the image, saying that he was trying to remove dust marks and that he made mistakes due to the bad conditions he was working under."
The agency has decided to withdraw all photos taken by Hajj after discovering that he also altered a photo of an Israeli F-16 warplane in action over Lebanon and supposedly firing missiles on August 2nd. Hajj had supplied pictures to Reuters for more than 10 years. - (Guardian service)