NYT public editor slams her own newspaper for posting fake pictures

[Otelo]

The Obama administration told a NYT reporter something to the effect that, 'Here, these pictures show Russian military stirring up trouble in Ukraine.'

The photographs were fake.

Now the newspaper that believed "Curveball" suffers another setback as its credibility sinks lower and lower. At least they have a good public editor. Two paragraphs for you:

"It all feels rather familiar – the rushed publication of something exciting, often based on an executive branch leak. And then, afterward, with a kind of “morning after” feeling, here comes a more sober, less prominently displayed followup story, to deal with objections while not clarifying much of anything."

...


"Here’s my take: The Times’s coverage of this crisis has had much to commend it, especially the quality of the on-the-ground reporting. But this article, with its reliance on an administration leak, was displayed too prominently and questioned too lightly. The Times’s influence demands that it be cautious, especially when deciding to publish what amounts to a government handout."

http://publiceditor.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/04/24/aftermath-of-ukraine-photo-story-shows-need-for-more-caution/?_php=true&_type=blogs&ref=thepubliceditor&_r=0

[lostincalifornia]

1. Well geez, isn't it the job of a news organization to verify from multiple sources, including their

own? Wasn't that long ago that WMDs, and Judith Miller were given free reign at the Times.

However, the information coming out of Ukraine is not always accurate, but it cannot be denied that Russia has taken over Crimea, and have forces around Eastern Ukraine.

The stakes are high for Ukraine and Putin, so that makes it even more imperative that the media take extra care to insure accuracy

[frazzled]

2. No, no one has said the pictures are fake

The pictures in question are "real," but the assertion about whether it is the same man, or where it was taken, are in doubt. The government (and the Times) has corrected that, as per the link provided in your link:

A packet of American briefing materials that was prepared for the Geneva meeting asserts that the photograph was taken in Russia. The same men are also shown in photographs taken in Ukraine. Their appearance in both photographs was presented as evidence of Russian involvement in eastern Ukraine. The packet was later provided by American officials to The New York Times, which included that description of the group photograph in an article and caption that was published on Monday

The Western allegations that Russia has intervened in Ukraine are based on NATO’s analysis of the tactics employed by armed groups in eastern Ukraine; Ukraine’s assertion that it has arrested several Russian intelligence officers; the accounts of local residents and news media reports; and classified information. But the dispute over the group photograph cast a cloud over one particularly vivid and highly publicized piece of evidence.

Maxim Dondyuk, a freelance photographer who was working in Slovyansk principally for the Russian newsmagazine Russian Reporter, said that he had taken the group photograph there and posted it on his Instagram account.

“It was taken in Slovyansk,” he said in a telephone interview. “Nobody asked my permission to use this photograph.”

Jen Psaki, a State Department spokeswoman, acknowledged that the assertion that the photograph in the American briefing materials had been taken in Russia was incorrect. But she said that the photograph was included in a “draft version” of a briefing packet and that the information has since been corrected. This photograph, she said, was not among those presented by Mr. Kerry in Geneva.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/23/world/europe/scrutiny-over-photos-said-to-tie-russia-units-to-ukraine.html?ref=todayspaper

[sabrina 1]

3. Never trust the NYT or any other Corporate Media outlet. They are all controlled

by outside influences which we learned beyond a shadow of a doubt during the Bush era.

What I look for are the sources that are under constant attack by our 'leaders'. When they attack a source it tells me someone might be telling the truth.

It is embarrassing too to see our our elected officials confirm obvious propaganda, along with our Corporate Media EVEN AFTER it has been debunked by multiple sources here and elsewhere.

I believe nothing we are told about our latest foreign adventure until I have verified it with credible sources. Sources that have been proven to be RIGHT over time.

[scarletwoman]

6. +1000. (nt)

[HooptieWagon]

4. IMO, everyone is lying...

...except the dead people.

[cthulu2016]

5. You seem to have a keyboard defect that causes it to type the word "fake" when

you are trying to type "mislabeled."

Either that or you are simply a liar.

Since the NYT public editor did not say the photos were fake you are kind of on your own.

[sabrina 1]

7. I believe the OP is saying that the photos were used to promote a FAKE impression. I think most

people understand that.

This is third attempt to create a FAKE impression, using fliers and photos to do so. That the photos and fliers exist does not mean the word 'fake' does not apply.

We get it. The feeling of deja vu is palpaple, everywhere. As soon as I saw the Duck Dynasty characters, circled in case we might miss them, I remember similar 'not fake' though photoshopped photos of Bush supposedly surrounded by multitudes of US Troops. As it turned out there were really only about six actual REAL troops whose images were repeated over and over again to create the FAKE impression that there were hundreds of them.

We've seen this before. It's shameful that our leaders think we are so stupid we would not recognize when they tried to use it again.

I also recall a leaked conversation where the Bush War Criminals talked about painting a plane to make it look like an Iraqi Plane which they would then use to claim Saddam was violating the no fly zone or something of the kind.

Since we never brought the lying War Criminals and their Propagandists to justice, we now trust nothing coming from our Corporate media.

Maybe they will post something that is real one day, not photo-shopped, 'mis-labeled' or whatever, but guess what, no one is going to believe them anyhow.

That's what happens when you lie repeatedly when you pay millions to Private PR groups, like The Rendon Group, to 'sell' your latest War For Profit. You might get away with it once, but when you try it again, most intelligent people are on to you.