Christiane, Did you look at the pictures that were taken and the manipulated final image? There was much more going on there than just improving "composition." The result actually was photographically very well done. But there was a distinct change in meaning of the photographs. The two original images showed a pretty innocent event taking place. The final image was one of a hard-nosed "war" photo depicting the toughness of our troops in dominating the nationals from the other side. That was not an innocent change. And innocent or not, it flies in the face of photojournalist ethics as taught in US universities. Walski knew better, but he took a chance, got caught, and suffered the consequence of journalistic fakers. His firing was justified. >From your point of view, I can understand why you thought this was such an innocent thing. You are seeing two faces of war and this seemed like such a small breach compared to what you must feel is going on in the news reports that you observe. But it is not a small breach. Photojournalism must be accurate. If we start allowing these indiscretions, in our press, our country will become, one small piece at a time, something dishonest and dishonorable. I don't want to see that happen, although the potential is there. It is our press, with its ethics and persistence, that has saved us many times from the indiscretions of our leaders in both business and politics. Our journalism is not perfect, but we try. And Bob and Jim, while I respect your fervor, I fail to see the logic of equating a lack of support for our war (which is not supported by many Americans as well as many Europeans) with a lack of appreciation for what we did for Europe in WWII. Those are two different things entirely. That's like saying that because we won the Revolutionary War with the help of France (indeed, without their help, we probably would not have won that war) that we have to agree with everything France says and does. Rather than this mode of "obligation" thinking, I prefer that each man, woman and county think for themselves and reach their own conclusions based on the data they feel are most correct. peace, rand
