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North Korea distributes manipulated funeral photo of Kim Jong-il

avatar by Published Dec. 29, 2011 7:37 am Updated Dec. 29, 2011 4:19 pm

The New York Times | Charles Apple
A group of men were removed from a photo of the North Korean leader’s funeral procession, according to analysis performed Wednesday by The New York Times and a digital forensics expert. The Times initially published the doctored photo online and was alerted to the manipulation by the Associated Press, which noticed the discrepancy in an image captured moments earlier; the earlier image showed the six men, along with their camera and tracks in the snow. The European Pressphoto Agency — which transmitted the image for North Korea’s state news agency — alerted clients to the problem Wednesday evening. || Related: European Pressphoto Agency “sought credentials to cover the event with a staff photographer, but was denied entry by the North Korean authorities” (iMediaEthics)

The New York Times worked with a forensics analyst to deconstruct cloning done on this photo from Kim Jong-il’s funeral procession.

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  • Anonymous

    Big deal. Just another case of “journalists” getting their knickers in a knot over nothing.  Why would anyone be surprised that a photo out of North Korea was altered. There’s no “gotcha” in this “gotcha.”

  • Anonymous

    I can see why analysts would be interested in this, but it is curious that is described as a (journalistic) “problem,” as if it surprising that an image from North Korea would be manipulated and one should be apologetic for running it. Everything transmitted from North Korea media is in some way staged or faked. Of course maybe the AP doesn’t know this. It ran a story yesterday that basically said that all those people shown crying were in genuine mourning; it did not note that some may have been acting out of a wish for survival. Even the NY Times saw through it.