Reuters Fauxtography Alert: Spreading Hamas Propaganda With Fake Power Outage Photos

Newsbusters.org ^ | 1/26/08 | Warner Todd Huston

[Mobile Vulgus]

Photos Posted Below the Fold

The Jerusalem Post caught another fauxtography scam out of the mideast this week. It appears that Hamas legislators have staged fake power outages to illustrate how oppressed they are for the benefit of journalists. The Journalists were treated to a photo op of the Hamas legislators sitting in their halls of power surrounded by burning candles in rooms with curtains drawn. The scene was set to show how they have had their power cut by the eeeevil Jews. Only problem is, midday sunlight can clearly be seen against the curtains. So, the candles were unnecessary. All they had to do was open the curtains and they would be able to see just fine. Obviously Reuters (and others) allowed Hamas to manipulate the facts. But that didn't seem to bother any of these so-called journalists who were quite happy to go along.

The Jerusalem Post says of the fauxtography incident:

On at least two occasions this week, Hamas staged scenes of darkness as part of its campaign to end the political and economic sanctions against the Gaza Strip, Palestinian journalists said Wednesday.

In the first case, journalists who were invited to cover the Hamas government meeting were surprised to see Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and his ministers sitting around a table with burning candles.

In the second case on Tuesday, journalists noticed that Hamas legislators who were meeting in Gaza City also sat in front of burning candles.

Oh, the humanities. But wait, Hamas was only pretending they needed candles...

But some of the journalists noticed that there was actually no need for the candles because both meetings were being held in daylight.

Like I said, Reuters went on ahead and published these photos as if there was nothing at all amiss.

And as NRO says of the incident:

And more fun with Big Media propagandists: During a soi-disant Israeli "power cut", Palestinians are forced to hold a parliamentary session by candlelight. Alas, even with the curtains drawn, the blazing sunlight keeps peeping through.

These photographs were taken by Mohammed Salem of Reuters and Hatem Moussa of the Associated Press. If neither of these organizations wish to comment, perhaps some of the ethics panjandrums at America's journalism schools would like to weigh in.

Here are the photos along with the misleading tag lines that Reuters tagged onto them. You can clearly see the sunlight behind the curtains:

Palestinian lawmakers attend a parliament session in candlelight during a power cut in Gaza January 22, 2008. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem

Palestinian lawmakers attend a parliament session in candlelight during a power cut in Gaza January 22, 2008. Israel agreed to allow some fuel, medicine and food into the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Tuesday, at least temporarily easing a blockade that has plunged much of the territory into darkness and sparked international protests. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA)

Palestinian lawmakers attend a parliament session in candlelight during a power cut in Gaza January 22, 2008. Israel agreed to allow some fuel, medicine and food into the Hamas-run Gaza Strip on Tuesday, at least temporarily easing a blockade that has plunged much of the territory into darkness and sparked international protests. REUTERS/Mohammed Salem (GAZA)

[JLS]

Can we ever believe a word these people say?

I don't. I basically ignore them.

[Sender]

Heh, I used to support laptop users including Reuters. While I was taking their call, I would usually insert some small talk such as, "So, how are the Palestinians doing?"

Sometimes they launched into a (fair and balanced) rant, other times they just went silent.