{"id":519,"date":"2017-03-26T13:37:24","date_gmt":"2017-03-26T13:37:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/?page_id=519"},"modified":"2025-01-17T16:50:15","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T16:50:15","slug":"images-ethics","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/images-ethics\/","title":{"rendered":"Images &#038; Ethics"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>Accuracy, context, cultural sensitivity<\/strong>, and an awareness of how things can go wrong are part of an ethical approach to using images.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3548\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3548\" class=\"wp-image-3548 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/fox-news-seattle-protest-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-3548\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">On June 12, 2020, Fox television took down <a href=\"https:\/\/www.independent.co.uk\/news\/world\/americas\/fox-news-fake-image-photo-george-floyd-protests-seattle-a9565061.html\">\u00a0 \u00a0this and several other digitally manipulated images<\/a>\u00a0 that\u00a0 made civil protests look like riots in June 2020. Fox claimed it was a simple error, but it was clearly unethical.<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Codes of professional ethics<\/strong> condemn this sort of news manipulation,\u00a0 as follows:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong><strong>\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/nppa.org\/professional_development\/business_practices\/ethics.html\">National Press Photographers Code of Ethics <\/a><\/strong><\/strong>Editing should maintain the integrity of the photographic images\u2019 content and context. Do not manipulate images or add or alter sound in any way that can mislead viewers or misrepresent subjects.\u201d<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ap.org\/\"><b>Associated Press<\/b>. <\/a>\u00a0AP pictures must always tell the truth. We do not alter or manipulate the content of a photograph in any way. The content of a photograph must not be altered in PhotoShop or by any other means. No element should be digitally added to or subtracted from any photograph. The faces or identities of individuals must not be obscured by PhotoShop or any other editing tool. Only retouching or the use of the cloning tool to eliminate dust and scratches are acceptable. Minor adjustments in PhotoShop are acceptable&#8230; (but) &#8230;\u00a0Changes in density, contrast, color and saturation levels that substantially alter the original scene are not acceptable. Backgrounds should not be digitally blurred or eliminated by burning down or by aggressive toning.<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.reuters.com\/blog\/archives\/4327\"><b>Reuters<\/b><\/a>: \u00a0No additions or deletions to the subject matter of the original image. (thus changing the original content and journalistic integrity of an image). \u00a0No excessive lightening, darkening or blurring of the image\u00a0(thus misleading the viewer by disguising certain elements of an image).\u00a0No excessive colour manipulation. (thus dramatically changing the original lighting conditions of an image). \u00a0Only minor Photoshop work should be performed in the field\u00a0(especially from laptops). We require only cropping, sizing and levels with resolution set to 300 dpi. Where possible, ask your regional or global picture desks to perform any required further Photo-shopping on their calibrated hi-resolution screens&#8230;<\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.rcfp.org\/photoguide\/\">Photographer\u2019s Guide to Privacy<\/a> by the <strong>Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3><strong>PHOTO MANIPULATION\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>Photo manipulation presents us with ethical dilemmas of varying degrees of severity.\u00a0 In some cases, the photographers or editors are fired when unethical images are used. In other cases, such as this\u00a0 magazine cover from the Economist, the ethical issue is debatable.<\/p>\n<table>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_3545\" style=\"width: 503px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3545\" class=\"wp-image-3545 \" src=\"http:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Obama.Economist-300x169.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"493\" height=\"278\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-3545\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The Economist magazine, 2010, isolated then president Barack Obama in a cover photo.<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<h3><strong>Volkswagen ad, 2020<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/h3>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/CBTs67Oh1MI\" width=\"480\" height=\"315\" frameborder=\"0\" align=\"left\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\"><\/iframe><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td align=\"top\">Volkswagen&#8217;s racist ad from May 2020\u00a0 &#8220;horrified&#8221; management when they realized what their agency had done. A company official apologized and called it \u201can insult to every decent person.\u201d\u00a0 The 10-second clip depicted a pair of oversize white hands dragging a black man away from a new VW Golf 8 sedan, and flicking him violently into a restaurant called \u201cPetit Colon,\u201d a name with overtones of colonization. <span style=\"color: #444444;\">Briefly as a spokeswoman reads the phrase \u201cDer Neue Golf,\u201d or \u201cthe new Golf,\u201d as it appears on the screen, the letters materialize in an order that briefly spells the German n-word.\u00a0<\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<h3><strong>ASIANA FLIGHT 214<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_3554\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3554\" class=\"wp-image-3554 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Asiana214-300x177.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"177\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-3554\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Racism and racial slurs are deeply objectionable.\u00a0Reporting on the crash\u00a0of Asiana flight 214 in the\u00a0 summer of 2013, TV news reporters were fooled into using\u00a0names of the crew that included &#8220;Sum Ting Wong, Wi Tu Lo, Ho Lee Fuk, and Bang Ding Ow.&#8221;<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<h3><strong>Yom Kippur coverage 2015 <\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_1187\" style=\"width: 425px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft left\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1187\" class=\"wp-image-1187\" src=\"http:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/irviz3hd7muyk9xdcprr-300x168.jpg\" alt=\"irviz3hd7muyk9xdcprr\" width=\"415\" height=\"232\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-1187\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Another highly insensitive media faux-pas, if not ethical outrage,\u00a0\u00a0was this use of a Nazi concentration camp emblem as an illustration for a\u00a02015 story about the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur.<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td><strong>HURRICANE KATRINA 2005 <\/strong><\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_3551\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3551\" class=\"wp-image-3551 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/looter.ap10208301530-300x192.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"192\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-3551\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A young man walks through chest deep flood water after looting a grocery store in New Orleans on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2005. Flood waters continue to rise in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina did extensive damage when it made landfall on Monday. (AP Photo\/Dave Martin)<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<td>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_3552\" style=\"width: 219px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3552\" class=\"wp-image-3552 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/looter.cyn78.300805074130-209x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"209\" height=\"300\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-3552\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Two residents wade through chest-deep water after finding bread and soda from a local grocery store after Hurricane Katrina came through the area in New Orleans, Louisiana.(AFP\/Getty Images\/Chris Graythen)<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<h3><strong>OJ SIMPSON. NEWSWEEK AND TIME, 1994<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_3556\" style=\"width: 490px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3556\" class=\"wp-image-3556 size-full\" src=\"http:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/ojcovers1.gif\" alt=\"\" width=\"480\" height=\"318\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-3556\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Did Time Magazine act unethically when it darkened the face of OJ Simpson to make him seem more sinister?<\/p><\/div><\/td>\n<td><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<h3><strong>MUG SHOTS IN IOWA, 2015 \u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-3555\" src=\"http:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/mugshots-300x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" \/><strong>Racism is often built into the crime reporting \u00a0system.<\/strong> \u00a0\u00a0Take for example the selection of mug shots to illustrate arrest stories. \u00a0In March of 2015, the Cedar Rapids Iowa Gazette newspaper\u00a0reported on\u00a0two groups of people who were arrested for two burglaries. \u00a0The police mug shots of one group were posted, while yearbook pictures were posted for the other group. \u00a0After this comparison showed up in social media, the Gazette went back to the police department and got the mug shots for the second group<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<h3>\u00a0Kent State 1970<\/h3>\n<div id=\"attachment_1214\" style=\"width: 431px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"http:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/kent-state-massacre.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1214\" class=\"wp-image-1214\" src=\"http:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/kent-state-massacre-300x206.jpg\" alt=\"kent-state-massacre\" width=\"421\" height=\"289\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1214\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">This 1970 Pulitzer-prize winning photo by John Filo depicts Mary Ann Vecchio at the Kent\u00a0State Campus reacting just after\u00a0National Guard troops killed\u00a020-year-old Jeffrey Miller. The version on the right, with the apparent &#8220;merger&#8221; of a fence post with the top of Vecchio&#8217;s head, is actually the original. \u00a0The version on the left has the fence post airbrushed out, which is not ethical in a news photo.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<h3><strong>IRAQ 2003\u00a0<\/strong><\/h3>\n<div style=\"width: 304px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Walski1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"294\" height=\"197\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">This first photo is the composite, in which a soldier appears to be telling a man with a child to sit. The two photos from which this is drawn tell a different story. The photographer responsible for these photos was dismissed from the LA Times two days after the composites came to light. LA TIMES, Basra, 2003<\/p><\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/BrianWalski.LATimes.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"215\" height=\"144\" \/><\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/Walski3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"215\" height=\"151\" \/><\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sree.net\/teaching\/images\/lat2.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.sree.net\/teaching\/images\/lat1.jpg\" alt=\"\" \/><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<h3>Artificial intelligence and ethics<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/4.19.AI_.Newsroom.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright size-medium wp-image-3916\" src=\"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/4.19.AI_.Newsroom-300x160.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"160\" srcset=\"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/4.19.AI_.Newsroom-300x160.jpg 300w, https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/4.19.AI_.Newsroom.jpg 677w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>By the early 2020s, computers had become so powerful that they could generate apparently authentic images just with a text prompt.\u00a0 However, in many cases the images were historically inaccurate and unethical by omission. For example, this AI image generated for an article republished by the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.niemanlab.org\/2023\/06\/how-a-titan-of-20th-century-journalism-transformed-the-ap-and-the-news\/\">Harvard Nieman Foundation <\/a>\u00a0is labelled &#8220;Illustration of a 1940 newsroom via Midjourney.&#8221; But is it ethical to present a view of a newsroom without women or minorities, without telephones, typewriters, or wire service teletypes?\u00a0 And what about those machines on the left &#8212; Are they linotypes? If so, the occupational exposure to lead poisoning would have been significant. But in the world of AI, such historical issues don&#8217;t matter.<\/p>\n<div id=\"content-box\">\n<div id=\"content-container\" class=\"full-width\">\n<div id=\"content\" role=\"main\">\n<div id=\"post-2166\" class=\"post-2166 page type-page status-publish has-post-thumbnail hentry\">\n<h3><strong>Copyright and Artificial Intelligence<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>When artificial intelligence went public in 2022 \u2013 23, the possibilities were not clear. However, one of the concerns has been that AI uses \u201clarge language models had to train on content scraped from the web \u2014 without the consent of artists and writers.\u00a0 One Author\u2019s Guild<a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Technology\/authors-lawsuit-openai-fundamentally-reshape-artificial-intelligence-experts\/story?id=103379209\">\u00a0lawsuit<\/a> for copyright infringement was filed Sept. 23 , 2023 (<a href=\"https:\/\/authorsguild.org\/app\/uploads\/2023\/09\/Authors-Guild-OpenAI-Class-Action-Complaint-Sep-2023.pdf\">brief here<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Another LLM lawsuit<\/strong>\u00a0filed by the New York Times in December 2023 also alleges that LLMs training on Times news articles violate the newspaper\u2019s copyright.\u00a0 See\u00a0 Times articles\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/01\/08\/technology\/openai-new-york-times-lawsuit.html\">here,<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2024\/01\/25\/technology\/ai-copyright-office-law.html\">here<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2023\/12\/27\/24016212\/new-york-times-openai-microsoft-lawsuit-copyright-infringement\">the Verge<\/a>\u00a0here.\u00a0 The actual c<a href=\"https:\/\/nytco-assets.nytimes.com\/2023\/12\/NYT_Complaint_Dec2023.pdf\">omplaint of Dec. 27 can be seen here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>AI companies say their datasets and models are protected by the \u201cfair use\u201d exception to copyright law, according to an October, 2023\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cjr.org\/the_media_today\/an-ai-engine-scans-a-book-is-that-copyright-infringement-or-fair-use.php\">Columbia Journalism Review article<\/a>,<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/AI.Sahni2_.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-6148\" src=\"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/AI.Sahni2_-300x146.png\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 251px) 100vw, 251px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/AI.Sahni2_-300x146.png 300w, https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/AI.Sahni2_-1024x498.png 1024w, https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/AI.Sahni2_-768x374.png 768w, https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/AI.Sahni2_-1536x747.png 1536w\" alt=\"\" width=\"251\" height=\"122\" \/><\/a><strong>Can AI images themselves be copyrighted?<\/strong>\u00a0Another issue involves whether the question of whether copyright covers images\u00a0 generated by AI.\u00a0 In a December, 2023 decision, the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.copyright.gov\/rulings-filings\/review-board\/docs\/SURYAST.pdf\">US Copyright Office said<\/a>\u00a0that such images are \u201cclassic\u201d examples of derivative works not covered by copyright.<\/p>\n<p>Generative AI presents a unique set of opportunities and challenges to creative industries, said FTC Commission chair\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Lina_Khan\">Lena Khan<\/a>\u00a0in a roundtable discussion Oct. 3, 2023 (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ftc.gov\/system\/files\/ftc_gov\/pdf\/creative-economy-and-generative-ai-transcript-october-4-2023.pdf\">transcript here<\/a>).\u00a0 One significant point, she noted:\u00a0 \u201cAll of the laws that already prohibit unfair methods of competition or collusion or discrimination or deception \u2014 all of those laws still entirely apply\u201d (to AI).<\/p>\n<h4><strong>Also see\u00a0 <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.copyright.gov\/ai\/\">Copyright office statement on AI<\/a>, November 2023<\/h4>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Accuracy, context, cultural sensitivity, and an awareness of how things can go wrong are part of an ethical approach to using images. Codes of professional ethics condemn this sort of news manipulation,\u00a0 as follows: \u00a0 National Press Photographers Code of &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/images-ethics\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"full-width-page.php","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-519","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/519","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=519"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/519\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3919,"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/519\/revisions\/3919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/viscomm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=519"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}