At the Black Hat computer Hacker's conference held in Las Vegas last week, Neal Krawetz of "Hacker Factor" showed how easily the MSM has been tricked into believing the fake images that al Qaeda has offered to further their propaganda. Krawetz specifically referred to two images, one the July 27, 2006 image of al Qaeda second in command al-Zawahiri supposedly sitting in a modern television studio. It was an image that had the tongues of the MSM and pundits alike wagging. How is it, they clucked, that al-Zawahiri could be sitting in a modern television studio yet still could not be found?
Krawetz demonstrated how the elements of the two images, however, are special effects and not real.
Krawetz showed another image of al-Zawahiri from July 27, 2006, showing him seated in what appears to be a television studio. Krawetz said many people who saw this video were outraged that he could sitting in a television studio somewhere, yet the U.S. government couldn't find him.
Image analysis suggests that the studio and the various pictures positioned in the studio around him were added later. Again, a halo around al-Zawahiri suggests that he was shot in front of a monochromatic screen and pasted into a new background.
The fake TV studio image sure fooled Tucker Carlson of MSNBC's The Situation Room. On January 30th Tucker said:
Well, not only are they still here, but they seem to have access to a television studio. I‘m looking at the tape right now. I know you‘ve seen it. It‘s on our screen this minute. It looks like it was shot in a studio, and it also appears that al-Jazeera Television had word that this tape was coming. They were prepared for it before it arrived. These guys are not living in a cave.
Not living in a cave? Since the images are fakes, the idea that Tucker had that folks like al-Zawahiri are living in high style despite all the pressure the US has put upon him is not so obvious.
CNN's Soledad O'Brien was similarly fooled by the images. On CNN's American Morning aired on July 27th, 2006, O'Brien marveled at the freedom that our enemies supposedly enjoyed.
S. O'BRIEN: A final question for you, Peter. We're looking at this tape, and I've got to tell you, it looks like he's in a television studio. I mean, it's lit. They've got murals behind him. You know, here is a guy who is -- it is not a shot out in the desert with a canvas up behind him, hiding the scene.
What do you make of something like that? I mean, it's fairly, you know, good quality.
What do we make of "something like that," Soledad? Obviously, you want us to imagine that all we have done has resulted in absolutely no success if you want to promulgate the idea that al-Zawahiri has all the comforts of modern life despite what we have done in the war on terror thus far.
One thing is sure. The hacker conference has proven once again that the American MSM is the best friend that al Qaeda has.
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I guess it's "fake, but
August 5, 2007 - 06:06 ET by motherbeltI guess it's "fake, but accurate."
Good catch, Warner, and
August 5, 2007 - 06:47 ET by sarcasmoGood catch, Warner, and thanks for accurately using the term "hacker" in a positive sense, since these kinds of people are often positively brilliant prank-players on the news media. I also suggest that any interested people attend the last HOPE July 18-20 of next year. I've been to the past three of 'em over the last few years, and each one is an intellectual feast. Hackers, at least in part due to the media treatment of hackers, are almost all natural NewsBusters. Even though many of 'em skew politically left, I find them quite useful, and intelligent enough to convince of libertarian views in many cases.
Plus last time the Feds arrested a speaker just before he was to talk (giving him GREAT publicity, too bad they delayed the e-gold raid 'till 2 weeks later!). The event was where I was allowed to experiment for about 45 minutes with a Segway on non-neutered mode, too, and NYC in that area is distilled fun & great food. But I'm against the socialist types who say the Hotel Pennsylvania should be "saved" by taxpayers. In fact, I hate those hotel elevators so much I'd almost pay to take part in their demolition.
JMR
Rally online with fans of Dr. Ron Paul.
Fooling the MSM
August 5, 2007 - 06:53 ET by allanfIt is pretty easy to fool the main stream media, when the lie fits into their template of a story. Just ask the photo editors at Reuters who published doctored photographs from Lebannon. Or look at the Duke Rape case.
It is not hard to fool the likes of Tucker (I used to play a conservative on TV) Carlson and Soledad O'Brien Somehow I'm not surprised that these two would not know their own business.
What about the rest of the main stream media? Are other members of the main stream media just silly dupes or active particpants in these deceptions?
Enablers or fools, or does it matter.
August 5, 2007 - 06:59 ET by CTSo this begs the question, are the talking heads at MSNBC and CNN propagandists for terrorists or just easily fooled idiots?
Warner -- I think you are
August 5, 2007 - 07:09 ET by Jack BauerWarner -- I think you are being entirely unreasonable here.
C'mon mate. Be fair!
You are right. I forgot who
August 5, 2007 - 07:16 ET by Warner Todd HustonYou are right. I forgot who I was talking about here!
I apologize for my high expectations.
Happens Every Time
August 5, 2007 - 08:35 ET by acumenCarlson - "Well, not only are they still here, but they seem to have access to a television studio."
Funny, that's the same thought I have every time I see the demedia talking heads on the tube.
My guess is that the msm
August 5, 2007 - 10:28 ET by gopsteveMy guess is that the msm isn't really fooled. They may have their doubts, but what the heck, this is the footage they have, and since it can make Bush look bad, use it!
Media believe what they want to believe.
August 5, 2007 - 11:00 ET by Blogger Guy00001Truth doesn't matter. The media readily accept whatever they hope is true. Remember Dan Rather.
By the way, the picture looked fake to me, and I'm no expert.
Why should anyone believe
August 5, 2007 - 15:58 ET by Sonny LykosWhy should anyone believe the media was fooled? They believe what they want to believe is true and discount what facts they don't agree with or want to believe is false, eg. the economy.
This is News?
August 5, 2007 - 21:21 ET by w0tmThis is news? Remember the Reuters' photojournalist who got caught red-handed "Photoshopping" photos during the Israeli/Hezbollah war last summer? The term "Photoshopping" even entered our lexicon with that event.
Before Reuters removed all of his 937 photos from their archives (they said to "maintain our ethics and journalistic integrity"), I got to the photos first. I copied hundreds of them. This was a photojournalist whose images had moved public opinion for years. In the hundreds of photos I copied, when blown up, virtually all that had anything to do with politics (primarily anti-Israel) showed clear signs of "Photoshopping" and a poor job of it at that. Included were seven photos dated between 1997 and last summer's war that had the SAME Red Crescent "rescue worker" carrying the same dead child out of a bombed building. Another series had the same lady weeping as she viewed her destroyed home except the photos were dated over a five year period and were taken everywhere from Iraq to the West Bank.
There is now software that automatically scans then flags photos that have been altered. I've seen the software demonstrated and I witnessed a 100% accuracy rate. Yet, the author has been unable to gain interest from any major media outlet. Expect to see conservative watchdog groups buy and use this software. Also expect to see their discoveries totally ignored by Main Stream Media. This "hacker" in Las Vegas did not accomplish rocket science. As I say, you can now BUY software that tests photos for digital alteration. No photo has fooled it yet.
In the days before digital photography when all you saw were grainy photographs in newspapers, surprisingly, what you saw was probably real. Manually altering a photograph was VERY difficult to do.
Today, don't automatically believe your eyes looking at ANY image you see in media that has any agenda. Photoshopping is now the norm of virtually all published photographs. 99% harmless just to do the "Playboy no moles or wrinkles" touch-up. But a solid one percent purposely done to deceive the viewer every bit as much as written lies, omissions and deceptions. To them, just as much as it is to those who deceive with words, theirs is a noble cause as the "end justifies the means". They all KNOW we'll thank them some day when their beliefs and goals triumph and, at the same time, the world learns it was accomplished by trickery. By then, it will be too late. The "Propaganda Wars" will have ended. So, for today, the truth is what they say or show it to be. And most people believe every word they read and every image they view.
People like me (and many of you reading this) design Web sites and can turn a "thorn into a rose" with clicks of a mouse. But the majority of the world is still illiterate! Most have never even seen a computer. But most see media even it if it posters and sheets of pure lies (for those who can read). But , for most, they view the images and form their beliefs and opinions from what they see. Mass deception and deceit was never so easy as it is today!
Over 80% of those in Islamic countries believe 9/11 was the work of Mossad even with OBL taking credit on video for the mass murder. Joseph Goebbels said "propaganda is not propaganda if it is recognized as such". Pure truth uttered by pure evil.
That this was even a topic of discussion in Las Vegas and that it made the news of at least a few media outlets is amazing to me. It's as startling as an article saying the earth is no longer flat.
"Photoshopping" will continue and it will become even more common now that those who work to advance their agenda by deception know the masses are as they've always been: easily fooled and easily lead to their own demise. The human mind, of all mammals, is both the most intelligent and the most easily deceived. Flaming mindless rhetoric wins over truth, facts and reason every time. Ask any demagogue of today or witness their successes throughout history. Jesus said, "The poor will always be with us". The poor are not dangerous to the future of mankind. Mindless zealots by the hundreds of millions following the demagogues of today are very much the greatest danger we face. Their numbers will only increase and increase. And there is NOTHING we can do about it. Have we lost the propaganda battle? That this was even news says "yes we have". Now we just await the ultimate consequences.
Before Reuters removed all
August 5, 2007 - 22:59 ET by drillanwrBefore Reuters removed all of his 937 photos from their archives (they said to "maintain our ethics and journalistic integrity"), I got to the photos first. I copied hundreds of them. This was a photojournalist whose images had moved public opinion for years. In the hundreds of photos I copied, when blown up, virtually all that had anything to do with politics (primarily anti-Israel) showed clear signs of "Photoshopping" and a poor job of it at that. Included were seven photos dated between 1997 and last summer's war that had the SAME Red Crescent "rescue worker" carrying the same dead child out of a bombed building. Another series had the same lady weeping as she viewed her destroyed home except the photos were dated over a five year period and were taken everywhere from Iraq to the West Bank.
Somehow, you have to get that out. Have you contacted Malkin? Even Pat Dollard would be interested in this. Damn the MSM ... They would NEVER divulge such parlor tricks they have come to depend on in leading the public around by the collective nose.
Do you all remember this one from the LATimes?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/essays/vanRiper/030409.htm
A few years ago I saw a movie on TV starring Farrah Fawcett about photographer Margaret Bourke White who worked during the Depression and WWII. I think I lost a lot of trust for photo "journalists" when in one scene she was shooting pictures of a soup line she took a woman's baby and put it in another woman's arms and posed everyone just right.
It is fairly well known that
August 5, 2007 - 23:15 ET by Warner Todd HustonIt is fairly well known that this Reuters guy was a liar and photochopper.
I was not alone
August 8, 2007 - 09:00 ET by w0tmThe really sad part about the Reuters sham was that I was not the only one who got to the photos before they took them down. Doctored photos of all I mentioned appeared on Fox News and, and, and -- that's it -- plus many conservative blogs. Some provided by me and some by others. All other networks didn't respond to my e-mails. I believe Malkin was one of the conservative blogs who ran with this. But it was as it always has been: "preaching to the choir" as all others blindly follow Walter, Dan and, now, Katie. The scam artist would still be spinning photos today if he hadn't been in such a hurry doing an extra poor job of "Beirut burning". Anyone can see it is a fake. His earlier work took at least a novice Web designer to spot the changes. If you'd like to see it again:
uweb.txstate.edu/~dn15/beirut2.jpeg
He has since admitted to all of his fake work but damned all others in his business by saying "everyone does it, they (Reuters and the like) won't buy photos unless they fit their stories". Most photos we see come from free-lance photojournalists. Truth rarely sells. Some have a political agenda and some just want a paycheck. The latter have no idea (or don't care) what their fakery can cause. To them, it's just a buck. To them, PhotoShop was the best revenue enhancer tool to ever come along. Who cares if it destroys the truth.