Photos Can Manipulate Memory

A photo doesn't lie... or does it? With the recent boon in technology it's fairly easy to doctor photos. Most of us take for granted that what we see in a photo is the truth. But recent research at UC Irvine and University of Padua reveals that memory and attitude of public events can be altered... For example, see what a difference it makes to your interpretation of the Tianamen Square protest...

Researchers doctored the original Beijing photo to show large crowds standing in the sidelines while a lone protester stood before a row of advancing Chinese military tanks. Then participants answered questions about the event, including the size of the crowd, the response of law enforcement personnel and the level of violence.

What does this mean to you? Recently reputable media outlets such as the LA Times and USA Today published digitally altered photos, and subsequently issued retractions and apologies. You can see potential to manipulate people's minds with altered images.

“It’s potentially a form of human engineering that could be applied to us against our knowledge and against our wishes and we ought to be vigilant about it,” Loftus of UC Irvine said. “With the addition of a few little upsetting and arousing elements in the Rome protest photo, people remembered this peaceful protest as being more violent than it was, and as a society we have to figure how we can regulate this.”

Ethics and honesty are key to good journalism as well as advertising. How can we preserve objectivity, truth and fairness to both sides of an issue whether in news or advertising with some measure of freedom?