Photo Illustration On Page One Story p.3

By: Tony Case

USA TODAY, WHICH stirred controversy a few years back by running a misleading photo of black gang members wielding weapons, raised eyebrows again last week with a staged picture of a schoolgirl snorting cocaine.
To illustrate a top-front-page story about heightened drug use among teens, the paper used a three-column color photo of a student sniffing at an open school locker. The picture was labeled "photo illustration," but in tiny typeface beneath.
It was just the latest instance of staged or doctored photos on news pages, a practice that has been damned by journalism ethicists on the grounds it contributes to the media's growing credibility problem.
Newsday was rapped two years ago for superimposing photos of dueling Olympic skaters Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding to create the impression the two had performed side by side.
More recently, criticism was heaped on Time magazine for darkening a mug shot of O.J. Simpson on its front cover.
USA Today editor David Mazzarella said the drug-story photo was hardly in a league with those situations, where images were electronically manipulated.
"It was very clearly a make-believe shot, not a real picture," he said.
Still, the editor, who said he didn't see the picture before publication, apologized for any confusion. "It was simply done too realistically for the quick peruser of Page One," he admitted.
He said he had no philosophical qualms about using photo illustrations, however, arguing it's a common practice among newspapers and magazines.
Mazzarella was quick to note USA Today had received no complaints from readers about the picture ? only inquiries from the news media.
As noted, USA Today is no stranger to posed-photo controversies.
Three years ago, it ran a lengthy explanation and apology after playing up a picture of Los Angeles gang members with guns alongside an article on gang violence. Those photographed were under the impression the story would be about a gun trade-in program.
Ohio University School of Visual Communication director Larry Nighswander, an active critic of photo manipulation, believes news organizations trip into an ethical quagmire by staging pictures.
"The term 'photo illustration' is, by its nature, a dangerous term, because the average reader cannot differentiate between documentary and illustration, especially when the illustration involves a situation that is based on reality," he said.
"I think we need to be very prudent in using a photograph to illustrate a subject so loaded it would draw an immediate, emotional response. A reader's lack of trust takes many, many years to regain, and none of us can afford to lose our credibility one iota."