Fox News was caught using digitally manipulated photos on its website regarding its coverage of the Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone in Seattle.
As people occupied CHAZ, a six-block area in Seattle that protesters have claimed as their own autonomous land, the news outlet used distorted photos in its coverage, which was first reported by the Seattle Times. On Friday, Fox News superimposed an unidentified man with a gun and a bulletproof vest (the original photo of the individual was captured by Seattle freelance photographer David Ryder) into other photos on their website.
The individual was inserted into a photo of a sign that read, “You are now entering Free Cap Hill,” which appeared on the network’s homepage on Friday. The same individual was also superimposed on a photo from May 30 of looting occurring in Seattle — in this altered photo, which was also published on its homepage, it appears as though the man with the gun is standing guard to protect the looters.
“It is definitely photoshopped,” Ryder confirmed. “To use a photo out of context in a journalistic setting like that seems unethical.”
Fox News changed the photos after the outlet contacted them.
“We have replaced our photo illustration with the clearly delineated images of a gunman and a shattered storefront, both of which were taken this week in Seattle’s autonomous zone,” a Fox News spokeswoman told the Seattle Times.
Fox News’s front page also featured a photo of a protester running through fires both in the foreground and in the background of the photo. The photo was used to highlight its Seattle coverage; however, the photo was taken in Minnesota during the unrest that occurred following the death of George Floyd.
There was no disclaimer on the site about the photos being digitally manipulated.
An editor’s note was added to the stories that had the doctored photos, which reads: “Editor’s Note: A FoxNews.com home page photo collage which originally accompanied this story included multiple scenes from Seattle’s ‘Capitol Hill Autonomous Zone’ and of wreckage following recent riots. The collage did not clearly delineate between these images, and has since been replaced. In addition, a recent slideshow depicting scenes from Seattle mistakenly included a picture from Minneapolis. Fox News regrets these errors.”
Fox News also updated their editor’s note to correct the original one saying that the picture from Minnesota was actually from St. Paul and not Minneapolis.
