part of my daily routine includes checking the headlines on the NPPA's website.  usually, the stories contain information on clip winners, photographers of the year, upcoming seminars and workshops, and occasionally [sadly] a scandal or news about journalists covering/captured in Iraq.

last week, i wrote about one such scandal, about the big photojournalism no-no: editing news photographs. 

this morning's headline brought my heart to an all-time low, regarding this profession i regard in the highest:

Toledo Blade Discovers Dozens Of Doctored Detrich Photos

seriously, folks.  we, as photojournalists and members of the National Press Photographers Association, sign and agree to a Digital Manipulation Code of Ethics.  this means that we stand by the standards of telling the truth, no matter what.  the integrity of news reporting depends on this code, and when one of our peers breaks it, it affects all of us. 

here's excerpts from the Toledo Blade's article by the Vice President / Executive Editor, Ron Royhab:

A basic rule: Newspaper photos must tell the truth

[...]
We conducted an internal investigation and found that since January dozens of digitally altered photographs of his were published either in the newspaper or on our Web site.

Readers have asked us why this was such a big deal. What's wrong with changing the content of a photograph that is published in a newspaper?

The answer is simple: It is dishonest.

Journalism, whether by using words or pictures, must be an accurate representation of the truth.

[...]
An intensive investigation of Mr. Detrich's work, conducted by Nate Parsons, The Blade's director of photography, found that since January of this year, Mr. Detrich submitted 947 photographs for publication, of which 79 had been digitally altered.

Twenty-seven of the altered photographs were published both in the newspaper and on toledoblade.com, and an additional 31 were published only on toledoblade.com. Another 21 altered photographs submitted by Mr. Detrich were not published.

[...]
Honesty is the fundamental value in journalism.

When a Blade reporter or photographer covers a news event, the newspaper and its readers expect an accurate record of the event.

Reporters and editors are not allowed to change quotes or alter events to make them more dramatic. Photographers and photo editors cannot digitally alter the content in the frame of a photograph to make the image more powerful or artistic.

[...]
This newspaper has a terrific staff of professional journalists. They work hard to bring you the truth in stories and photographs of what is happening in our community, every day of the year. It is especially dismaying to have something like this happen that may cast doubt on our work.

It's impossible to make sense of why this happened, and we are embarrassed by it. But it is important that we are up front and honest with our readers.

[...]
In this respect, we let our readers down, and we apologize for that and pledge to you that we will do better.

****
to my neighbors, friends, colleagues and passer-bys:

this discovery will change our profession.  whether photo editors now require absolutely NO editing whatsoever (ie: images in RAW format or just straight from the camera) or a new influx of FILM ONLY requirements against the current trends for digital transmission, we shall see.  

the coming months will most likely bring changes and crack-downs in newsrooms. 
at a time when newspapers are slashing staff positions, the outlook could be bleak.
but, hopefully, the overall effect of this situation will be all for the better.