German N24 TV publishes merged photo on its website

Source: Xinhua | 05-27-2008 10:34

Special Report: Biased Reports Slammed

BEIJING, May 27 (Xinhuanet) -- In the latter part of April, the German N24 TV channel published on its website a piece of news titled "Propaganda Battle - China Begins to Ideologically Remold Tibet". A photo depicting Chinese police and lamas together was embedded in the news story with a caption stating: "Chinese policemen are watching Tibetan lamas conducting rituals in Beijing". The Associated Press was identified as the source of the photo.

Some specialists said that the photo was a composite merged by two or more photos taken long before.

Analysis one

 1. The collar on the policeman's uniform in the middle can be seen through the head of the old man in the front, a sign that the photo has been combined with another.

    2. The sunlight on the uniform of the policeman (middle) can't be discerned on the old man in the front, demonstrating that the color spectrum in one photo doesn't match.

    3. The edge of the head of lama (left) has overlapped with the policeman (middle). It is blurred and a white outline can be discerned on the head of the lama (right) if the picture is magnified several times. This is proof that the images of the lamas were cut and pasted with other images in the photo.

    4. There is a white strip under the mouth of the lama (left) that is either a strip stitched onto the police uniform or a trace of photo combination. To make sure, others have suggested checking whether there is such a strip on the police uniform and its position.

    5. The window on the picture is also suspicious. There is no wall on the top of the window and the frame below is so blurred - both of which are conspicuous traces left by Photoshop.