Bloggers Continue Search for Manipulated Photo Images from Lebanon

In the past week, critics writing online have challenged the accuracy of several news photos from Lebanon, forcing news agencies to correct photo captions and, in one case, fire a photographer.

News agencies have corrected a few obvious errors and deny that their photographers would participate in covering staged events.

Other stories from Lebanon, including photojournalists who say conditions are so dire they have had to rescue elderly and disabled people themselves, describe plenty of authentic damage and suffering to be seen there.

Some of the criticism has been the result of misunderstandings (for example, about time stamps) or speculation. Other cases, such as the accusation that rescue efforts in Qana, Lebanon, on July 30 were staged for journalists, remain uncertain.

If Hezbollah members are indeed staging rescue scenes, it would hardly be the first time one side of a conflict has tried to spin the media. Government and militia groups in every corner of the world know the power of a photograph, and arrange for photojournalists to witness events that cast them favorably. War journalists have long grappled with the ethics of covering demonstrations and other actions that might only be happening in their presence. Getting accurate and compelling pictures out of a conflict zone is a dangerous job, and journalists often must travel in groups for safety.