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April 14, 2008
Digital Media Manipulation
I remember coming across this in my electronic news gathering class last semester. In some cases, we would doctor up some of the footage we got in the field if it was a little too dark or hadn't been white balanced. Ethically, I don't find any real problem with this, although it wouldn't be needed in the first place if photographers take enough time to get their iris, white balance, etc. at the right setting. Having said that, I think there is an ethical line that is crossed if you go too far with correction, like lowering the brightness until a shot looks like nighttime instead of mid afternoon. While it may not be as harmful as if you darkened someone's face (like the OJ pic), it is still misleading the viewer and in my mind is unethical.
As far as having digital copyrights of photos, I agree with Kittross that it is improbable. With so many "civilians" contributing to newsgathering today, I don't think it would be a very effective tool. Plus, this seems like it would be more of a legal issue than an ethical one.
I guess the remedy for this dilemma is the same thing I've been arguing all semester: media consumer education. Viewers and readers need to know that what they see in magazines can't always be 100 percent accurate due to stylistic doctoring.
Posted by bfry at April 14, 2008 10:49 AM