AP Suspends DoD Over Altered US Army Photo

djupedal notes a story up at the BBC about the Associated Press's suspension of the use of Department of Defense photos after a photo of General Ann Dunwoody was found to have been altered (before and after comparison). "The Pentagon has become embroiled in a row after the US Army released a photo of a general to the media which was found to have been digitally altered. Ann Dunwoody was shown in front of the US flag but it later emerged that this background had been added. The Associated Press news agency subsequently suspended the use of US Department of Defense photos. 'For us, there's a zero-tolerance policy of adding or subtracting actual content from an image,' said Santiago Lyon, AP's director of photography."

Unadultered Alterations

[hagardtroll]

The alterations of of images transposed from within the confines of allocated semiconductor memory is a travesty of trustworthiness that makes on think of the simpler days of the chemical process for capturing images and storage on layered flexible devices. Those recollections also recoup melancholy days of sipping the Tranya amidst the family on late autumn holidays. One weeps for what this has become.

Re:So what was he *really* standing in front of?

[jandrese]

Certainly it would take all of the fun out of the thread to actually read the story and see the original photo.

Re:So what was he *really* standing in front of?

[Bandman]

Looking at the edited photo, I have to wonder how they found out that it didn't come right out of the camera like that. I mean, I've seen quite a few 'shops in my time, and I got nothing. *cough*

Re:The US and US flags

[thegnu]

Outside the USA, you'll only see it in dictatorships that tries to whip up unity/loyalty for to state, but obvously it's not quite the same thing here (since americans spam their surroundings with US flags by their own free will, not by a state decree).

Oh yes it is the same thing. They've equated patriotism with flag-bearing and equated being upatriotic with terrorism. So stupid people smother themselves in flags.

A quote:
"I'm the only person in my neighborhood with a McCain sign and an American flag"

by which this guy meant that Obama supporters are terrorists. See?

Re:The US and US flags

[Anonymous Coward]

It's seen as rather tasteless, rather low-brow. Duh, me Tarzan, me light fire, me wave flag.

Hey now! For a lot of Americans Tarzan and his grunting is considered quite high-brow.

Re:So what was he *really* standing in front of?

[danieltdp]

So it makes a perfect story link for slashdotters. We cal all go there and not read TFA, just look at the pretty (*cough*) pictures

In Response

[Zordak]

In response, the military has issued a new, official photo of Gen. Dunwoody. But again, it looks like they may have photoshopped it. If you look closely, you'll notice some differences between the before [mothertalkers.com] and after [google.com] pictures.

Re:Unadultered Alterations

[Anonymous Coward]

It's supposed to be very good but is also reputed to cause dwarfism in your offspring.

Re:The US and US flags

[JohnFluxx]

You spent 10 years defending a flag?? Couldn't you have just let the enemy have it and make a new one?

Re:The US and US flags

[Culture20]

It also stipulates that every citizen must keep a flag draped over their shoulders at all times.

You can wear it as a muffler or scarf, the ever popular but still stylish cape, or even a neckerchief. My pastor wore one as his liturgical vestment last Sunday.

Re:So what was he *really* standing in front of?

[lysergic.acid]

oh, they must have used highly advanced software [wired.com] to detect the minute discrepancies between lighting angles. it must have taken a team of experts several weeks to uncover the fraud.

this seems like typical nationalistic BS, but it's really not any worse than the kind of stuff you see in magazines or the kind of audience manipulation TV networks like Fox and CNN do on a regular basis. i'd be more worried about Army psy-ops "interning" at CNN [counterpunch.org] or NPR [interesting-people.org].

Oblig.

[Weaselmancer]

Enhance 224 to 176. Enhance, stop. Move in, stop. Pull out, track right, stop. Center in, pull back. Stop. Track 45 right. Stop. Center and stop. Enhance 34 to 36. Pan right and pull back. Stop. Enhance 34 to 46. Pull back. Wait a minute, go right, stop. Enhance 57 to 19. Track 45 left. Stop. Enhance 15 to 23. Give me a hard copy right there.