On Friday, Fox News posted an image on the home page that was digitally-altered to combine two different images, taken 10 days apart, to show an armed man outside a destroyed business front in a peaceful zone in Seattle, as reported by The Seattle Times.
The images they used were of an armed man, which was taken at a Seattle protest on June 10th, with an image taken on May 30th that showed smashed windows left after destructive protests.
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And another photoshopped image showed the same man standing in front of a sign that reads: “You are now entering Free Cap Hill.”
The Capital Hill Autonomous Zone (CHAZ) is an area of Seattle that has largely been abandoned by police officers since clashing with protestors in the area. Since then, the inhabitants have led largely peaceful protests, serving free food, screening movies, and more.
Also noted by The Times, Fox News, also on Friday, ran another picture of a burning building and car that was taken in St. Paul, Minnesota on May 30th, on an article about the civil unrest in Seattle. Again, an incredibly misleading message.
Today Fox News ran this photoshopped image on their home page. They used digital editing to insert the man with the gun into the Free Cap Hill image.
I cannot stress enough what a severe violation of journalistic ethics this is.@JimBrunner has the story. https://t.co/qnlDuQq8Dm pic.twitter.com/mIrpRRdQi8
— Carl T. Bergstrom (@CT_Bergstrom) June 13, 2020
According to the National Press Photographers Association’s code of ethics, “editing should maintain the integrity of the photographic images’ content and context.” Journalists are advised to “not manipulate images or add or alter sound in any way that can mislead viewers or misrepresent subjects.”
All images were removed after The Seattle Times asked Fox News for comment.
A spokesman of Fox News pointed Business Insider to a note on the articles that used the images that read:
“A FoxNews.com home page photo collage which originally accompanied this story included multiple scenes from Seattle’s “Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone” and of wreckage following recent riots. The collage did not clearly delineate between these images, and has since been replaced. In addition, a recent slideshow depicting scenes from Seattle mistakenly included a picture from St. Paul, Minnesota. Fox News regrets these errors.”
The photographer of the armed man, David Ryder, took the photo for Getty Images, and also acknowledged that Fox News had manipulated his image.
https://twitter.com/davidmryder/status/1271589928208527360?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1271589928208527360&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fnews.yahoo.com%2Ffox-news-reportedly-edited-photos-161143532.html
It has been noticed, before, that as protests over the death of George Floyd have grown peaceful, Fox News has continued to use older images showcasing violence, rioting, and looting.
It is clear they are altering the narrative to suit their own agenda, and while we are sure this common with other news outlets, it is still something that must be addressed.
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