Reuters Issues New Photoshop Rules for Photographers
Source: Reuters
January 23, 2007 – After a torrent whirlwind of events following Reuters’s release of doctored photos of the Israeli-Hezbollah conflict in the summer, the global news agency’s Editor-in-Chief David Schlesinger released new Photoshop guidelines for its photojournalists. Reinforcing Reuters’s values for accuracy, independence, freedom from bias, and integrity, according to their Trust Principles, the new Photoshop rules include specific limits to altering images with particular editing tools.
Reuters does not permit auto levels, selective area sharpening, in-camera sharpening, or in-camera saturation. In addition to the eraser tool, photographers are not allowed to use the airbrush, brush, or paint tools. External Photoshop plug-ins for sharpening is prohibited and use of third-party noise reduction plug-ins is limited.
The Reuters rules also mentioned caption guidelines. Photo captions should include mention of the type of specialty lens used such as tilt-shift lenses or Lensbabies. Photographers should also spell out if visits are escorted, organized tours.