On August 7, 2006, Reuter International admitted to and apologized for Article

On August 7, 2006, Reuter International admitted to and apologized for the fact that one of their freelance photographers had digitally altered a photograph of - Article Example The photos had generated mass hysteria against the Israel attacks which had damaged civilian places and displaced millions of the people from their home. Reuter, later admitted that these photos were digitally altered. The main purpose was to gain generate sympathy for the civilians and indirectly support the cause of Hezbollah militants. Altering the photographs digitally for vested interests was ethically wrong. The journalists are supposed to present the real situation to the people so the people can correlate with the event and accordingly propose a course of actions. In this case, the digitally altered photographs were meant to show gruesome and grotesque footage of war torn area and people and incite Muslims for the acts of terrorism and indirectly garner support for Hezbollah militants in their war against the Israelis. Journalists are pillars of our society and they need to be ethically correct in discharging their duty to disseminate correct information to the public at large. Violation of academic trust through plagiarism, cheating, falsifying information or aiding and abetting in any of the nefarious activities are now serious offences and they are considered as totally unacceptable conduct in all areas of work, including journalism. Hence their professional honesty is crucial in promoting correct facts and interpretation on issues and topics that are socially, economically and politically relevant. The actions of the Lebanese photo-journalist will have long term implications not only for the said journalist but the whole cadre of the journalist would become the target for vested interest and may be labelled as dishonest people who cannot be trusted. As the short term repercussion, the said journalist might lose his job as well as his credibility amongst his peers. The long term implications of his actions would be reverberated in the world of journalism which boasts of extensive power to influence the critically sensitive paradigms of our time