Emotions are running high on the Tibet issue, and the mischief-makers are out in force.
As an example, take a look at the photo above. It’s been making the rounds on the internet. If you believe what you see, without applying any skepticism, you might think these are Chinese cops about to put on Tibetan monks’ robes and create a little mayhem – a little psy-ops, as it were, to make the monks look violent.
Problem is, the photo is not what it seems. It’s a still photograph from the set of a 2003 movie, according to this blog. Basically, it’s a “fake news” photo.
Now, someone snatched this photo and rather maliciously (at least, in my book) is trying to stir up trouble.
I don’t know if it was this photo or another one that got Tibetans and even the Dalai Lama referring to the possibility that cops were dressing up as monks. What is disturbing is not only that it is unfair to the cops but also it allows Tibetans to exonerate themselves from the real violence that occurred in Lhasa March 14. Xinhua has a different version here.
And it’s not just one side. All sides are doing it here. They are pulling photos from movie stills, changing things around in PhotoShop, and doing all sorts of monkey business in an effort to get people worked up. There was another photo a few weeks ago that allegedly showed a Tibetan protester carrying a monster sword. It was the kind of image that on seeing one immediately thinks, “If I were there, I would run for my life.” Again, it appears that photo was fake. And it was making the rounds in China, causing people to mutter about what barbarians the Tibetans are. Again, profoundly malicious mischief.
I think there’s an old adage that goes something like, “Believe half what you hear, and only what you see.” That would be out of date when it comes to China, where faked photos are common. Earlier this year, one of the best news photos of 2007 turned out to be a computer montage. If I remember correctly, it was a herd of antelope racing near a speeding train on the Tibetan Plateau.
All the more reason why journalist who are paid and have a reputation to protect, like Mr. Johnson, are very important in helping us navigate this age of easy digital forgeries.
The good old days of airbrushing someone out of a picture is long gone....
Posted by: A B | April 17, 2008 at 07:50 AM
Great post. As much as I rag on "the media," I know deep down that we depend on guys like you.
Posted by: China Law Blog | April 17, 2008 at 09:54 AM
great posting...saw in Al Jezeera the reuter photojournalist who filmed his own death...captured in his film a shell fired from an Isreali tank straight into his lens...people like you all constantly risking your lives, seeking the truth to present to the world..thank you
Posted by: chanps | April 17, 2008 at 12:06 PM
Did you look at "officially released" pictures of line ups of Chinese leaders in the last several decades ? People keep on appearing and disappearing in them, on the same photo.
I suspect it is because of the "invisibility" ability of Chinese. It's just like magic.
Posted by: Bill | April 17, 2008 at 12:11 PM
In the name of freedom and human rights, tell me why?
Enjoy.
Posted by: Y | April 17, 2008 at 07:40 PM
Y,
How dare you interfere in the domestic affairs of there Empire of the United States?
The local warlord Saddam and his henchmen earned the punishment.
They are very fortunate that the Great White Father was merciful and did not decide to execute every living being there.
Now watch your step.
Posted by: A B | April 17, 2008 at 08:13 PM
A B:
“If freedom loving people throughout the world do not speak out against ......, we have lost all moral authority to speak on behalf of human rights anywhere in the world”
---
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, empire of United States
Posted by: Y | April 18, 2008 at 12:13 PM
Y,
I was not aware that the US had "moral authority to speak" to begin with.
Posted by: A B | April 18, 2008 at 12:54 PM
Can someone explain to me why can't the Chinese Government manipulate news like the Pentagon in the United States:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/washington/20generals.html?hp=&pagewanted=all
April 20, 2008
Behind TV Analysts, Pentagon’s Hidden Hand
By DAVID BARSTOW
In the summer of 2005, the Bush administration confronted a fresh wave of criticism over Guantánamo Bay. The detention center had just been branded “the gulag of our times” by Amnesty International, there were new allegations of abuse from United Nations human rights experts and calls were mounting for its closure.
The administration’s communications experts responded swiftly. Early one Friday morning, they put a group of retired military officers on one of the jets normally used by Vice President Dick Cheney and flew them to Cuba for a carefully orchestrated tour of Guantánamo.
To the public, these men are members of a familiar fraternity, presented tens of thousands of times on television and radio as “military analysts” whose long service has equipped them to give authoritative and unfettered judgments about the most pressing issues of the post-Sept. 11 world.
Hidden behind that appearance of objectivity, though, is a Pentagon information apparatus that has used those analysts in a campaign to generate favorable news coverage of the administration’s wartime performance, an examination by The New York Times has found.
Posted by: A B | April 19, 2008 at 05:03 PM
Learn China learn. Heard that they are employing an PR company to help.
Posted by: chanps | April 19, 2008 at 09:20 PM
They need more than a PR company, they need some very high powered advisers that know how to work the Western dominated international system and is willing to train them.
Posted by: A B | April 19, 2008 at 10:23 PM
The Chinese version of that adage goes, "Er ting wei xu, yan jian wei shi" -- loosely translated, you can't believe what you hear, you can only believe what you see.
Posted by: Hugo Restall | April 20, 2008 at 02:01 PM
Hugo,
The problem with that adage is, while seeing is believing, sometimes, in order to see, you got to believe first.
Posted by: A B | April 20, 2008 at 05:20 PM