Reuters exposed: uses activists, staged photos

Lens, the newspaper’s blog on photography, video and visual journalism, said on Thursday that since the death of Molhem Barakat (photo), an 18-year-old Syrian who had worked in rebel-held territory and was killed in Aleppo in December, several news media outlets had questioned Reuters’ reliance on a teenage photographer in a war zone.

“An examination of the events surrounding Molhem’s death has also raised questions about Reuters’s network of local photographers in Syria and their journalistic practices,” it said.

Supervising a network of freelance photographers in any conflict was difficult, and the challenges in Syria were so great that few news organisations have had access to a steady stream of images there, The New York Times said. Reuters had been the most active over the past year, providing more images to its hundreds of worldwide subscribers - newspapers, magazines and news websites - than its competitors.

“Interviews with numerous Syrian photographers, most requesting anonymity because they have worked as freelancers for Reuters, said many of the freelancers are activists - in one case a spokesman - who supported the rebels. Three of them also said that the freelancers had provided Reuters with images that were staged or improperly credited, sometimes under pseudonyms. And while Reuters has given the local stringers protective vests and helmets, most said that the stringers lacked training in personal safety and first aid,” it said.

The New York Times quoted Jim Gaines, global editor at large responsible for editorial training, internship, diversity and coaching initiatives who also leads the global pictures organisation, saying that the agency would not use combatants but did rely on activists for pictures. “We use activists in Syria partly because they have access and partly because you have to be among friends to be safe,” he said. And although “we scrutinize all images and captions” to ensure they are free from bias, Reuters does not “as a general practice” inform subscribers that activists took the photos.

Top editors at Reuters, one of whom travelled to the region soon after Barakat’s death, said the freelancers knew the news service’s rules against staging pictures, The New York Times said. And a Reuters spokeswoman said that the agency provided staff members and freelancers “hazardous-environment training classes whenever possible.”

“Reuters spares no effort to ensure the safety of our photographers, both staff and freelance,” Gaines said. “We have a long history in this regard, and we take it very seriously.”

The New York Times said that among the 26 Syrian photographers in Reuters’ Syria freelance network was Abdul-Rahman Ismael, a spokesman for a rebel group; his work was credited to Abdalrhman Ismail. “On Jan. 9, The New York Times ran a Reuters photograph credited to Mr. Ismael that accompanied an article in which Mr. Ismael was also quoted by The Times as an activist.”

In another case, a Syrian photographer who has been cited as an activist also filed photographs to Reuters under a pseudonym.

“When Molhem Barakat died in December, local activists said there were no foreign photographers working in Aleppo. Molhem knew the activists and many of the fighters. He also knew the local freelancers used by Reuters and began photographing and filing directly to Reuters,” The New York Times said.

“His photos – often images from front lines – were published in newspapers around the world. He had access, sometimes accompanying his brother Mustafa and friends as they fought government forces. He also covered hard-line forces affiliated with Al Qaeda, but also photographed everyday street scenes in Aleppo...

“At times, Molhem carried a pistol and had shown himself to be at ease in tense situations. Last September, while he was working with Reuters, a video showed him pulling a wounded rebel to safety during a firefight.

“Reuters provided him with camera gear, a flak jacket and a helmet and paid him a day rate of $150. But four Syrian freelance photographers who worked for Reuters said that although they received protective jackets and helmets, they did not receive medical, safety or ethics training.”

The New York Times said three photographers who worked for Reuters in Aleppo claimed that at times when a photograph didn’t turn out as hoped, some of the Reuters freelancers staged photographs. “One of them directly admitted to staging photos.”

The identity of Reuters freelancers had sometimes been uncertain, the newspaper said. In 2012, Reuters sent out photographs credited to Zain Karam that ran in The New York Times and elsewhere. But Nour Kelze and her husband, Hamid Khatib, both Reuters freelancers, said that Zain Karam did not exist. They said she used the pseudonym for a period to protect herself from the Assad regime. In an interview, Kelze said, “Reuters knew about this from the beginning.”

Another photographer in Syria, a 24-year-old activist, said he used a pseudonym to file photographs from Homs that Reuters used as recently as last week.

A Reuters spokeswoman told The New York Times that pseudonyms were prohibited except in “rare cases” where using a generic Reuters credit would endanger the photographer. She added that staging pictures was a firing offence but declined to say if anyone had been fired, citing personnel confidentiality. ■