How do photographers find news?

Ensure the authenticity of news photography in the digital age

Nowadays, with the advent of the digital age, news photography has undergone revolutionary changes. From the practical application of digital camera in news photography, it really brings great convenience to photographers. Especially in major, sudden and emergency events, its advantages are beyond the reach of traditional film cameras. For example, in flood fighting, earthquake relief and other occasions, the reporter quickly released the manuscript after taking pictures at the first time, so that the news can meet the readers at the fastest speed, which is incomparable to traditional cameras. But at the same time, it also brings some hidden dangers and disadvantages, which makes the authenticity of news photos face unprecedented challenges.

Authenticity is the life of news, and it is also the life of news photography. The truth of pictures is the life of news photography. As far as news photography is concerned, no matter what the purpose and means are, it is to subvert the truth of the subject, that is, to falsify and spread fake news. From the development history of news photography, we can clearly see that even before the appearance of high-tech digital cameras, false news photos still existed. In addition to distorting the facts in the text description, it is not uncommon for counterfeiters to use the real images taken by traditional cameras to scrape, cut and paste, splice and superimpose in the darkroom, and replace trees with flowers to create synthetic images taken without lenses. What's more, some people use "head-changing" to create "news" out of thin air. Therefore, the fundamental problem of maintaining the authenticity of news lies not in what camera to use, but in whether the people who use the camera have a correct concept of news photography, a noble professional ethics of news, and a spirit of pursuing and defending the truth.

The purpose of news photography is to report facts and record history. This task can only be accomplished by photography itself, and only by photography itself. If news photography is false because computers are involved in reporting facts, it means that in a few years, our history will change beyond recognition.

In recent years, fake news photos have become more and more serious, and there is a trend that is difficult to control. For example, the explosion of the tallest building in China (produced by PS), the photos of a newly married couple taking to the streets during the SARS period (the reporter asked two young people to pretend to be newly married couples), the photos that won the grand prize of the World News Photography Competition, and the recent "South China Tiger Photo" incident! Another example is the news picture of "Qinghai-Tibet Railway opens a life channel for wild animals" shot by the photojournalist of Daqing Evening News, which was reprinted by many media in China and won the bronze award of the annual "Influence 2006" news picture. After verification and my confirmation, it is a PS composite map.