QWANZ

The digital manipulation of images especially in the fashion and entertainment industries is notorious. We see them as possibly oppressive part of our culture, but know that people can be critical of these things....  Read more …

The digital manipulation of images especially in the fashion and entertainment industries is notorious. We see them as possibly oppressive part of our culture, but know that people can be critical of these things.

But when news magazines get into the fray, we see it as political statement. Even when they don't mean it to be. Is accuracy tantamount to clarity?

Take for example the cover of the Economist showing President Obama looking down forlorn with the oil rig in the distance. Does The Economist's claims that removing Admiral Thad Allen of the Coast Guard and Charlotte Randolph, a parish resident from the photograph with President Obama was a matter of keeping people from being confused by unindentifiable people or a political statement that the President has more than he can take on his solitary shoulders.



[image is from http://http://www.flickr.com/photos/mikmac1/]