Author Topic: Advertising photos as news  (Read 915 times)

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Offline Warren Toda

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Advertising photos as news
« on: July 20, 2017, 03:49 PM »
The Globe and Mail today tried to pass off an advertising photo (a picture of musician John Mayer posing with a glass of beer) as a news photo (page L3).

You'd think the photo credit of "Bud Light" would've tipped off The Globe's page editor. Or maybe the very noticeable "BUD LIGHT" near the middle of the picture might've raised suspicion.  Other photographers at the exact same shoot didn't get any beer logos in their pictures but maybe they were only photojournalists.

Perhaps no one considers the entertainment section to be news and no one cares. Certainly some newspapers' entertainment, business, lifestyle and other non-front sections play fast and loose with (photo)journalism ethics.

Some of the problem is Getty Images which dabbles in editorial, commercial and PR photography and then passes it all off as editorial since Getty can make more money that way.

When Company A hires Photographer X to shoot a product image and then pays Photographer X's employer to distribute that picture, that's an advertisement.

Why is there no "Advertisement" disclaimer above such photos exactly the same way a disclaimer is placed on print ads that look like editorial?


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