Persephone Milk

I have not read this entire thread, but I did go back and find a link to the photographs presented by Media Matters. Provided these aired as shown (which I have no reason to doubt), then I agree that this is disgusting. The photographs were clearly altered to make both persons appear to be unattractive goons. If a person working for Fox did this, then Fox should own it, fire the persons responsible, and make changes to editorial procedure and chains of accountability to prevent this kind of thing in the future.

That said, I have a very hard time believing this editing was reviewed or condoned by management. This is obviously the work of some low-level fool, perhaps an intern, in the graphics design department who thought it was funny. I don't believe for a minute that Fox News has a policy to edit photographs of democrats to make them look bad. This is something you could maybe get away with one time. It is far more likely that this exposes a serious deficiency in their editorial review process, and perhaps in their hiring practices.

The buck stops at the top, and Fox should be called out for this. They play fast and lose (especially in the non-news segments) and that will bite them in ass as it has here. So hold them accountable.

But keep it in perspective too. Fox and Friends is not a news program. It's 70% jackassery, 20% fluff, and 10% "news". And remember that all kinds of media sources are being caught right now for photo manipulation. From Time Magazine's manipulation of the OJ cover, to the more recent controversies at Reuters. It's a troubling problem in this day of digital tools and the rapid pace of an almost instant news cycle.

EDITED TO ADD:

I just noticed this, from the commentary at Media Matters:

This is very telling. In an effort to make a funny piece, somebody was given license to mess with the photos, in what would be an obviously silly edit - at least to make the poodle joke. It sounds to me like, that person got carried away.

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