Doctor Photo, I Presume?

Image by Lars Plougmann via Flickr

The Economist, the magazine that calls itself a newspaper, has stirred up a media ethics hornets nest with its June 19 issue cover, according to a story in The New York Times.

The cover photo at issue shows a reflective President Obama standing alone on a Louisiana beach with his head down. Compelling and symbolic, without a doubt. Phony? Absolutely.

Seems as if The Economist, which is half-owned by the Pearson Co. subsidiary Financial Times and half-owned by independent shareholders, neglected to acknowledge adding the blue waters of the Gulf of Mexico to the photo where Coast Guard Admiral Thad W. Allen and local parish president Charlotte Randolph were previously standing.

The Economist has not commented on the doctoring of the photo of President Obama that was taken by Reuters photographer Larry Downing on May 28.  It's one thing with fiddle with cover art on a literary magazine, but "TUOL" believes that news readers looking for substance from The Economist ought to be able to assume that a cover photo is a true depiction.

Now "TUOL" can't help but wonder if The Economist cover photo of North Korea strongman Kim Jong Il accompanying this post originally had him standing next to Kate Gosselin and Lindsay Lohan.