Photographs should remain truthful in spirit, manipulated only through quality enhancements such as burning, dodging, contrast control, color balancing, spotting and cropping.
We don’t stage, re-enact or recreate news events for photos. Personality portraits and studio illustrations shouldn’t create an artificial sense of spontaneity. Photo illustrations, computer enhancements, colorized and composite photographs should be labeled as such, out of regard for the public’s trust.
Removing or adding an object in an editorial photograph is not permitted.
Nor is flopping a photograph.
Readers deserve accuracy and honesty, whether viewing an image or reading words. Their eyes may deceive them, but the newspaper should not.