University of Windsor Scholarship at UWindsor Electronic Theses and Dissertations Theses, Dissertations, and Major Papers 1996 The ethics of photojournalistic alteration: An integrated schema of determinants. Paula J. Habas University of Windsor Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd Recommended Citation Habas, Paula J., "The ethics of photojournalistic alteration: An integrated schema of determinants." (1996). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3981. https://scholar.uwindsor.ca/etd/3981 This online database contains the full-text of PhD dissertations and Masters’ theses of University of Windsor students from 1954 forward. These documents are made available for personal study and research purposes only, in accordance with the Canadian Copyright Act and the Creative Commons license—CC BY-NC-ND (Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivative Works). 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Habas A Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research through the Department of Communication Studies in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts at the University of Windsor Windsor, Ontario, Canada September, 1996 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 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Neither the droit d’auteur qui protege cette these. thesis nor substantial extracts from it Ni la these ni des extraits substantiels may be printed or otherwise de celle-ci ne doivent etre imprimes reproduced without the author’s ou autrement reproduits sans son permission. autorisation. 0-612-30906-1 Canada Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. © Paula J. Habas, 1996 All Rights Reserved Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ABSTRACT Why is the issue of manipulative practices in photojournalism important and why should it be studied? It is important because photographs are powerful iconic mediums that play a vital informative role in our public and private lives. It is worth studying because both history and popular lore have encouraged us to view photographs as direct, unmediated transcriptions of the real world. Since the introduction of photography, viewers have vested the medium with a level of authority and credibility unparalleled by other modes of communication. The iconic similarity of the photograph to its subject masks the distinction between image and reality, and obscures the significance of the picture-making and picture—altering processes in the construction of a photographic message. Photojoumalist’s photographs are particularly influential sources of information because of their status in newspapers and news magazines. If readers assume, as historical evidence suggests, that viewers trust that photographs correspond to a real situation, that they are windows to the real world, then accurate and fair re­ presentations of news events should, and must be, of primary importance. From photography’s inception, the public has been encouraged to accept the premise that the photograph was an objective and truthful record. This expectation is an important reason why photographic alteration in news has always been an ethical issue. Our review of how photojoumalists have attempted to understand photographic/image alterations and secure truthfulness in their work has led us to examine the history of photographic technology and its influence on news reportage (Chapter One); the evolution of ethical awareness in photojournalism (Chapter Two); the complex range of Digital Imaging (DI) technology and other techniques associated with image alteration (Chapter iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Three); and finally, the industry’s views on photojournalism ethics and the appropriate use of photographic techniques in news representation (Chapter Four). Chapters One through Four gradually disclose some foundations for making ethical evaluations. Practitioners themselves and commentators have identified a number of these elements and principles within the domain of photo-image ethics usually in a piecemeal and disconnected fashion. What we have done in this thesis is to identify and highlight the ethical determinants which slowly emerged over one and a half centuries within the profession and examine these elements in their interconnectedness. This thesis is an early attempt to weave together the thoughts, suggestions, and written treatments surrounding the issue of photographic alteration in news reportage, and to present these determinants in a dearer, more integrated approach. On this historical base, this thesis supplies an integrated three-tiered approach to formulating a schema of ethical determinants related to photographic adjustment culminating in a broad statement about the central and continuous responsibility of the photojoumalistic agent. This approach takes seriously into account (1) the metaphysical elements of the image, (2) the importance para-image factors play in the ethics of photographic alteration, and (3) the responsibility of the photojoumalistic community. A photograph is no guarantee of a corresponding pre-photographic existent. It is the reputation of the photographer and his or her publication that produces the sodal expectation that the photograph is truthful, accurate, and meaningful, and that it corresponds to the reality of a news story. v Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. DEDICATION To my parents Mike and Jo Habas, To my late grandparents Andrew and Mary Osowski and John and Balbina Habas, To my brother Mitchell and his wife Cheryl, and to all those who have in some way assisted and made the realization of my Master’s degree possible, I thank you and I love you all. A special thanks and debt of gratitude to my mother for believing in me even when I doubted myself. This thesis is as much yours