Lara Logan photo altered on CNN's 'Anderson Cooper 360'

CNN calls its nightly program "Anderson Cooper 360." But the view was rather less than complete when the network reported on the alleged crimes against CBS reporter Lara Logan on Wednesday night.

Cooper anchored a segment that criticized writer Nir Rosen for mocking Logan on Twitter after CBS said she was brutally sexually assaulted while reporting on the unrest in Egypt. One could quibble that Cooper was going after an easy target who had already expressed contrition in the wake of the incident. But in fairness, many others had been outraged by Rosen's remarks, and focusing on him offered CNN a way to keep the Logan story alive. 

What was especially noteworthy about the segment was the photo the CNN producers chose. It was of a grim-faced Logan, apparently amid a large crowd, just moments before the attack is said to have occurred.

The photo was provided by CBS and made widely available to news organizations via the Associated Press. Many outlets used it to illustrate stories about Logan.

CNN, however, chose to blur the faces of the men in the background. The reason for the choice is unclear. It is possible that CNN worried about legal liability - despite the fact that the image was taken in a public place during a thronged demonstration of pressing international interest and had been distributed through a wire service. By partly obscuring the image, CNN tampered with the journalistic record without explanation, leaving it to viewers to guess whether the network intended to protect or incriminate the figures in the background.

An e-mail to two CNN spokeswomen was not returned Wednesday evening.

-Scott Collins (Twitter: @scottcollinsLAT)

Photo: (top) A screen grab of the CBS photo of Lara Logan, which was altered by CNN from the original distributed by the Associated Press (bottom). Credit: CBS/Associated Press

 

 

 

Comments

[tvjourno]

Really? You're wondering why they blurred the faces? It seems pretty obvious that if they were saying the photo was snapped just before the assault, they would be implicating (perhaps quite wrongly) the men behind her in the picture.

Journalism 101 where I come from; don't convict people before they've been tried, don't implicate people who may or may not have anything to do with a crime.

You're making it sound like there's something sinister about this. My initial reaction is they did the responsible thing. As a broadcast journalist with 18 years in, I can tell you this is EXACTLY what I would have done too.

[Jimmy James]

You sure about this? When this story broke, EVERY news show reporting on this used the picture with the blurred faces. In fact, this is the first time in the last 3 days I've seen the unaltered photo.... I'm talking after watching this story covered by CBS, NBC, FOX, ABC, Gawker, HuffPo, CNN/MSNBC/Fox News.com, etc.

[Charles Grandison Finney]

This is unethical. I'm glad you caught them at it.

[George Washington Gale]

This is not unethical. I'm disappointed you are making an issue of this.

[tk]

My question is why the coverage on Lara Logan falls under the "Entertainment" category on LA Times, when it really has little to do with "entertainment" and more to do with the "world" events? It seems petty to put it in the "entertainment" category considering how vicious this attack apparently was.

[boo@boo.com]

This was horrible. Unfortunately, such harm could come to any foreigner in a large crowd, especially a woman who stands out. Unfortunately, rape is a reality and risk for women of which everyone should be aware and take the proper precautions because there are dogs out there who commit such horrible acts.

[None]

I think that CNN probably figured that people would think this was taken during the assault and might implicate that the people in the picture were the assailants.

Charles Grandison Finney is funny. "Glad you caught them".. Yes, it was a real piece of detective work. I smell a Pulitzer. No wait, that's the leftovers I had for dinner.

[Max]

This is ridiculous. They were simply using the selective focus technique, which is a way to "make subjects stand out from the surroundings". Compare both pictures and see how well it works.

[joe blowhard]

This is preposterous, saintly CNN and journalism's golden boy Andy Cooper could never be guilty of yellow journalism or sensationalism!

[observer]

MEDIA AS A WHOLE NEEDS TO BE REVAMPED !!!

IT IS SO BIASED !!!

REPORTING 99.9% AWFUL THINGS .
DEPRESSING THE PUBLIC TRYING TO STAY INFORMED OF CURRENT AFFAIRS
REPORTING THINGS THAT NEED TO BE REVAMPED IN OUR LIVES AND THEN NOT DOING ANYTHING TO PROMOTE THE CHANGE ,

BUT SELL PAPERS!!!!

THERE IS ALOT OF BAD THINGS IN THE WORLD TO REPORT ON, BUT, THERE ARE ALSO ALOT OF GOOD THINGS TO REPORT ON SO WE NEED TO CHANGE OUR MINDSET IN SOCIETY AND GET THE WORD OUT ABOUT SOME BEAUTIFUL THINGS IN THE WORLD AND HOW WE ARE GOING TO COME TOGETHER TO CHANGE WHAT IS NOT!!!!!

THIS VIOLENCE IN EYGPT IS GOING TO SPREAD, PEOPLE HAVE HAD ENOUGH AND THEY ARE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANY MORE.

THE REVOLUTION IS HERE !

[MiddleEastJourno]

What exactly is your point here? What are you accusing CNN of? What are you implying? Hello, relevance? I'm with TVJourno. It was the responsible thing to do - Journalism 101 all the way.

[Terry Kappel]

Speaking of keeping the story alive....

Let me get this straight, you criticise CNN for calling out someone for writing insensative and inappropriate comments, but you think what is really offensive to your sense of right and wrong was the blurring of incidental people in a photo of someone who was raped by a large crowd?

Perhaps the intent was not to keep viewers from jumping to the assumption that the people surrounding Ms. Logan in this particular photo were the attackers. Which likely would have been a first thought.

Much on the 24 hour news networks winds up being dependent on there being video footage of an incident, unfortunately. What's next, you can no longer highlight a person in a photo in anyway? No circle or shading to focus the attention of the viewer?

I would be willing to bet that the Los Angeles times has used enhancement, and other techniques to focus readers attention to a segment of a photo in the past. The photo alteration by CNN did not change the story in anyway, and the criticism by the L.A. Times makes a story where there is none.

[Bon]

Misleading headline.
Protecting individual identities is more than acceptable.

[sethook]

Anderson Cooper is the last person I would count on for reporting in an
unbiased manner. Eventually he has to be the story. "CNN, where news is manufactured every day."

[danika]

How about a story about how the victim is doing? Novel idea, I know, but she should be the focus of this horrific assault, not the crowd.

[Jose Palomares]

THIS is the face of the Muslim Brotherhood and they use CAIR as their front in to infiltrate the US. Islam is the enemy, and they are seeking to implement sharia law on the whole world. Right now, they are using our political system & political correctness to infiltrate the west. They say they are a peaceful religion... their not! Just ask Lara Logan.

[waskoma]

Who friggin cares if they blurred the faces. She should not have been there in the first place. Common sense tells you not to send a pretty blond into a raging group of men. COMMON SENSE...

[JpRAustin]

Seriously, does anyone care what CNN does? They have an audience of hundreds.

[Charles Morris]

no freakin head scarf...that is disrespectful

[Pattio]

Do you really want to defend Nir Rosen? He's free to say anything he wants, but we are free to examine the character of a person who would say that, closely paraphrasing, "yeah, rape is awful but it depends on who it happens to. You have to look for humor in small things". That kind complete and total lack of empathy for a human being because you disagree with their politics, is exactly what sent Jews into the ovens. He is someone to bring out into the sunlight so we can all see what evil walks among us.