'I Just Want A Great Photo...'

A picture is worth thousands words. The saying might be the reason behind the Photoshop image on Kim-Jong Ill Funeral. As cited on North Korea Restores Order to Kim Funeral With Photoshop, There are couple changes on the funeral procession photo sent by North Korea's state news agency than the one originally taken by Japanese agency Kyodo News. It is believed that North Korea was using Photoshop, Image editing software, to visualise a sense of order in the memorial photo by cutting several people who were out of assembly line while the motorcade passed by. The European Press photo Agency (2011) decided not to publish the image as they consider it is a violation to EPA code of ethics.

On the other hand, aesthetic is also important in the case of media representation (Roblekc 2010). Since, imagery is crucial in newspaper production, the utilization of Photoshop functions to portrayed taste and beauty, which are the main factors to capture reader’s interest (Lodriguss, 2006). Nevertheless, apart from amusement-driven publication, images and figures are considered educational and informative. Hence they have always to be reliable and honest. These types of illustrations play a major role on engraving history of one country and to mobilized public opinion (Winslow, 2007). Digital Manipulation will lead to a critical effect on distorted history or mass misconception (Katzenstein, 2010).

Personally, I agree on the statement that publishing ethic is important and need to be incorporated on journalism industries. Civilians are likely gain their daily knowledge mostly from media in the shape on screen based broadcast or printed publication (Critcher, 2003). Hence, journalists as the suppliers have the responsibility to provide the truth (Becker & Hagamon 2003). Nonetheless, there are exceptions where image editing practice for media is acceptable, for instance to maintain individual’s privacy or solely as a form of art to entertain readers. Photoshop is applicable as long as the editor’s main purpose and method are well explained, not intentionally mislead or deceive the consumers (Roblekc 2010). 

References

ABC News 2011, ‘North Korea Restores Order to Kim Funeral With Photoshop’, ABC News, viewed 9 June 2012, < http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2011/12/north-korea-restores-order-to-kim-funeral-with-photoshop/>.

Becker, H. S. & Hagamon, D. 2003, ‘Digital Image Ethic’ in Image Ethics In The Digital Age, University of Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Critcher, C 2003, Moral Panics and The Media, Open University Press, Buckingham.

Katzenstein, Bill 2010, ‘Ethical Issues in Photography’, Shutter Release, viewed 9 June 2012, http://www.iconicphoto.com/featured-articles.htm.

Lacey, D. 2010, ‘Photojournalism ethics’, The Canadian Journalism Project, viewed 9 June 2012, http://j-source.ca/article/photojournalism-ethics-0.

Lodriguss, Jerry 2006, ‘The Ethics of Digital Manipulation’, Astropix, viewed 9 June 2012, http://www.astropix.com/HTML/J_DIGIT/ETHICS.HTM.

Roblekc 2010, ‘Ethical Issues in Photojournalism’, JournalistJan, viewed 9 June 2012, http://journalistjan.wordpress.com/2010/12/13/ethical-issues-in-photojournalism/.

Winstow, D. 2007, ‘Photojournalism Ethics: "The Problem Seems To Be A Lot Deeper"’, News Photographer magazine, viewed 9 June 2012, http://www.nppa.org/news_and_events/news/2007/06/ethics01.html.