Getting Reuters' Message

When I saw this Reuters photo of Hillary front and center on Drudge's site, I thought, "There you go again."


US Democratic presidential candidate Senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) smiles during a campaign rally in St. Clairsville, Ohio February 27, 2008. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton (UNITED STATES) US PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION CAMPAIGN 2008 (USA)

Reuters is notorious for its "message" photos.

For years, the Reuters photo wire has been packed with pics of President Bush that make editorial statements.

Here's a 2006 cheap shot by photographer Larry Downing--



This photo should have been discarded because the subject is cut off by the podium. The fact that it wasn't is very revealing.

When Drudge posted this one, he said the image suggests a "shrinking" president. I agree.



In this Downing photo, Bush has nearly disappeared. If not for the presidential seal, there would be no way to identify this as being a photo of the President of the United States.



This one gives the impression that Bush is seen through a gun sight, as if he's in the crosshairs. It actually is the lens of a video camera.

Yes, Downing is one talented photographer. He takes a picture of an image caught by another camera. And Reuters chooses to post it.

This sort of editorializing is nothing new. Reuters is anti-Bush.

Who could forget this "historically gripping" photo, taken by Rick Wilking of Reuters?

The President wrote this obviously private note to Condi Rice during a UN meeting.

Is a "bathroom break" newsworthy? Reuters thinks so.




This was a transparent attempt by Reuters, the news outlet that refuses to call a terrorist a terrorist, to diminish Bush in stature.

By presenting the leader of the free world as if he were a first grader asking permission to relieve himself, Reuters hinted that Bush was not properly concentrating on international issues, but instead, focusing on other more intimate matters.

This "bathroom break" photo took some work to achieve.

Although Wilking shot the photo, Gary Hershorn made the decision to zoom in on the note to see if he could read it. The white areas of the photo were overexposed in Wilking's photo so Hershorn had a Reuters processor use Photoshop to "burn down the note."

After all that effort, Hershorn decided that the photo should be seen around the world and he put it on the wire.

This next Reuters contribution didn't require Photoshop to produce. This one was the result of photographer Larry Downing's careful framing, or possibly some creative cropping.



The caption running with this photo read:

U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney speaks during his keynote address to the U.S. Labor Department's 2006 National Summit on Retirement Savings at the Willard Hotel in Washington March 2, 2006. REUTERS/Larry Downing

Obviously, the photo was taken or cropped to include the word "retire" above the Vice President's head. Based on Cheney's placement within the frame of the photo, there is no conceivable explanation for the appearance of the word other than a conscious decision by someone at Reuters to make an editorial statement.

Do you think Downing voted for Bush and Cheney in 2004?

I think it's highly doubtful.

When Hershorn was covering up for the "Bush Leak" photo, he insisted that there was no malice involved. He said, "That's not what we do."

That's not true. Malice is exactly what Reuters does.



Look at this one. It's not a flattering picture of the President. Nonethless, the powers that be at Reuters liked it and posted it.



Here's a zoom of the President's expression.

No bias there. Riiiight.



Check out this Reuters beauty.

Again, the photo includes a message -- Medicare is cropped to read "I care," behind a goofy looking President Bush.

These types of images from Reuters are no aberration. The intent is clearly malicious.

So when I saw Shannon Stapleton's photo of Hillary at the left of the image and the devil behind her shoulder, I certainly didn't think it was unintentional. I certainly don't think Stapleton supports Hillary.

What is unusual is that Reuters is attacking a Dem.

Yes, Reuters is treating Hillary like a Republican. How does it feel, Hillary?

Looks like a vast Left-wing conspiracy to me.


White House Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove listens to questions after his speech on economic policy at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington May 15, 2006. Rove said on Monday worries about the Iraq war had contributed to a sour public mood but Republicans would fare 'just fine' in November's congressional elections. REUTERS/Jim Young

Political figures aren't the only targets. Even Pope Benedict isn't off limits.

This Reuters photo isn't altered. It's just strange, another one of those creative cropping shots.



Pope Benedict XVI arrives at Anitkabir, the mausoleum of the founder of the secular Turkish Republic, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, in Ankara, November 28, 2006. Ataturk's mausoleum is the first official stop for Pope Benedict XVI during his four-day visit to Turkey. REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi (TURKEY)

Why would this shot be slapped on Reuters' photo wire?

Is this a photo of Pope Benedict or an unidentified woman's legs?

Given Reuters' history of shameful shots, I think that this photo was no accident. I think it's a clear attempt to be sexually suggestive and disrespectful.

Reuters' editorializing photographers and their cheap shots are a disgrace to photojournalists everywhere.