Question

Research Question: Should we trust what we see?
Purpose: to present one side of the argument about whether people can trust what they see and the implications of that trust
Audience: The general public in a workshop on media literacy
Using the text below, write 2 body paragraphs with simple words using evidence to support your answer.
While some may argue the insignificance of the edit, Bob Steele, a journalism ethics professor at DePauw University, says the bottom line is that the truth has been altered. "In this case, it is a fairly minor detail that has been changed," Steele tells NPR, "but it tells us that there is the potential for the alteration of truth in other photographs, or in any account of the story."
He adds that although the image came from an isolated nation, often the target of global skepticism, the seriousness of the matter should not be trivialized and that the manipulation of a news image from any country should not be condoned.
"To digitally alter a news photograph in a way that changes reality and deceives the public is ethically wrong," he says.
Steele recalls another notable Communist image that was altered — but this one was taken nearly 91 years ago. The original image, made in 1920, captured Russian leader Vladimir Lenin speaking to a crowd in Sverdlov Square in Moscow. In the altered image, said to have been taken within seconds of the original, fellow Central Committee members Leon Trotsky and Lev Kamenev, who were standing next to Lenin's podium, suddenly disappeared and were replaced with a staircase. This "visual revisionism" tried to keep up the facade of a flourishing nation that was actually mired in poverty and ruled by terror.
North Korea, too, has a facade to maintain: that of a nationalistic people who are happier than their neighbors in the South.
By late Wednesday evening, the European Pressphoto Agency had directed its clients to take down the altered image, stating: "We have since been made aware that the image has been altered by the supplier and the image was moved in error. We apologize for any inconvenience."
Steele argues that this situation should be a warning bell for all news organizations and citizens.
"We must recognize how easy it is to alter reality; when it comes to journalism and documentary photography, there must be an assumption that authenticity and truth are guiding principles. If we don't have that, then we don't have trust. And if we don't have trust, we have a breakdown in communication within society."
Ironically, the minor alteration in the larger scheme of the elusive North Korean story could heighten the cynicism of the outside world toward the isolated state, possibly having the opposite effect of that desired by its manipulators.

Answer 1

We should be careful about trusting what we see because pictures can be changed to hide the truth. As journalism professor Bob Steele points out, even a small edit "changes reality and deceives the public." The text gives examples: a recent news photo from North Korea was altered and later pulled by the European Pressphoto Agency, and an image from 1920 was edited to remove political figures standing next to Lenin. These examples show that people in power — or others who control images — can change pictures to make a story look different from what really happened.

This danger matters because trust is the base of how we share news and talk to one another. Steele warns that when journalists and photographers do not stick to truth, "we don't have trust. And if we don't have trust, we have a breakdown in communication within society." Even small changes can make people doubt all images and reports, and that doubt can grow into cynicism about entire countries or news sources. In short, the fact that images can be altered means we should not accept what we see at face value and must check sources and verify before we believe.