This is a very difficult subject.
I studied media, and TBH you could talk for years about media ethics.

To me, that image looks natural. She looks happy, bright and intelligent. Only when I read the tagline do I realise the publication's bias.

Publication opinion is very complex. If the tagline was - "Intelligent Woman - just what we need", with the EXACT same image, it would have a completely different message.

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UPDATED PORTFOLIO
www.jhousedesign.com
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I worked for Gannett News (USA Today) for 8 years back in the late 80's and early 90's. The same bias was there then and it just got worse. Which is one reason I left the news business.

While I was there, newspaper sales began to decline sharply, so the powers that be developed an internal program called "News 2000." Basically which stated, "We not only have to report the news, but we have to tell the reader what it means to them."

I resigned my position in the first "News 2000" board meeting held in our office.

Terry Thornhill

e-zign Design Group

I don't think retouching is as much an issue as image manipulation. When you retouch you're just smoothing out "imperfections" in an existing image. When you manipulate an image you're changing that image to suit your needs.

Retouching is fine in a news setting, but to manipulate an image, changing its original intent, I think is wrong. As Terry said, once you start trying to tell people HOW they should see the news, and crafting that message, it's no longer news. It's gossip. :)

I worked on a project for a workout video series and the model/instructor had a photoshoot after just coming through a serious illness that made her lose 80lbs. She was a very tall woman so this did NOT look healthy on her at all. It was my job to actually ADD some pounds to her frame to make her look healthier. I think in this case, to sell DVDs and present the instructor in the best possible light, this was perfectly acceptable.

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Natobasso
dirtandrust.com
"Powerpoint is not a design application"

1. Can you make my tits bigger?
2. Can you remove my zits?
3. Can you fix the redeye?
4. Can you cut off my head and replace it with this pic from when I was in high school? (actual requested more than once from more than one client).
5. Can you make it look like I have more hair?
6. Can you make me thinner?
7. Can you replace my ex-wife with a pic of my girlfriend?
8. Can you fix & whiten my teeth?
9. Can you remove the bags under my eyes/wrinkles, etc.
10. Poopsie (a poodle) isn't pink anymore... Can you make her blue? Pink was just so last-year. (unfortunately yes... an actual client request).

Terry Thornhill

e-zign Design Group