Don't Try This at Home

Jill Greenberg is at it again. In 2004, Greenberg made the news for a photo exhibit titled "Four More Years." She later admitted that she gave the toddlers in her photos candy and took it away to make them cry.

Four years later, she's made the news again. This time, Greenberg was on assignment for Atlantic Monthly. During her photo shoot with McCain, she took the cover shot for the magazine's October edition as well as a few other photos that she later manipulated with Photoshop and posted on her web portfolio. The full slide show has all the graphic details, if you're interested.

What a bright idea. Atlantic Monthly will an apology to John McCain and has decided not to pay Greenberg for the photo shoot. The magazine is also considering legal action, according to the Fox News report.

But what I find most interesting is this: Atlantic Monthly and James Bennet, editor of Atlantic Monthly are issuing apologies. Maybe they were partially responsible since they contracted a photographer with a record of expressing her anti-Republican views in radical ways. But I think they expected Greenberg to put aside her opinions and act professionally.

And what is Greenberg doing? Yes, she does have some pretty extreme politics, but that doesn't excuse her for the ethical breach she committed. Yet, she gloated to the New York Post about how she "tricked" McCain into posing for unflattering shots. She also went on to say, "Some of my artwork has been pretty anti-Bush, so maybe it was somewhat irresponsible for [The Atlantic] to hire me."

It seems just as irresponsible to take advantage of a contract with a magazine and take some unflattering photos of McCain. And then, to take those photos (which she may not even hold the copyright to) and manipulate them to express her obvious distaste for McCain.

Interesting. Do editors need to cross-examine every reporter or photographer's views and interests before hiring them or assigning them a project? Should reporters and photographers set aside their personal views and try to be fair? Trust is a tricky, tricky thing.