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Case Studies: Accuracy and Fairness
border guard could not be
identified? What could it have
done to protect her identity?
4. Should the newspaper have
attempted to contact the border
guard to get her side of the story
before printing the article? How
might that have prevented the
newspaper from making such a
mistake?
5. Was the newspaper sufficiently
careful in using anonymous
sources in the story? What
motivations might those sources
have had in getting the newspaper
to publish false information about
the border guard? What steps can
the media take to ensure that
information that comes from
anonymous sources is correct
before publishing or broadcasting
it?
6. Once the information was
determined to be incorrect, should
Handdolgor have revealed the
newspaper’s sources to the court?
Why might it be important for
journalists to protect the identity of
anonymous sources even when
they have provided false
information?
7. Should the front-page apology
published by Ug be enough to
prevent Handdolgor from being
convicted of libel? Was it fair to
punish her with a prison sentence?
What is the danger in punishing
the act of libel with prison
sentences?
8.
Case Study: Colombia
Digital Manipulation of Photos
During recent elections in Colombia,
the editors of the magazine Cambio
wanted to do a story about how armed
guerillas in the FARC revolutionary
movement were standing guard at
polling places in rebel-controlled
areas. Sources told the magazine that
guerrillas were trying to intimidate
citizens not to vote in the elections. A
low voter turnout in those areas would
prove the FARC’s power.
The editors had a good story—lots of
sources, including eyewitnesses who
reported seeing armed guerrillas at
polling places. But they didn’t have
photos to illustrate the story.
So they created the photos.
The magazine took a photo of a
soldier guarding a ballot box in a town
plaza and made several subtle
changes, using digital manipulation.
First, technicians removed the insignia
that identified the man as an Army
soldier. Second, they added a
shoulder patch associated with the
FARC to the soldier’s camouflage
uniform. Finally, they removed the
soldier’s Army cap and replaced it with
a peasant’s cap. It was virtually
impossible for a reader to detect the
changes. (See before and after
illustrations.)
The magazine didn’t stop there. For
the second manipulation, the
technicians started with a photo of a
ballot box in an empty plaza, a lazy
dog sleeping beneath it. Then they
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