The Reuters headline read “A doll lies in destroyed home near Rancho Santa Fe near San Diego” dated 24 Oct 2007.
“A doll lies in the charred rubble of a home in the Rancho Santa Fe area of San Diego, California” and “The charred remains of a girl’s bedroom are seen through a shattered window of a home in the Rancho Santa Fe area of San Diego, California October 23, 2007.” were among the captions under Reuters wildfire photographs published on the Reuters, Yahoo! News and ABC News Web sites.
The photos offer viewers undeniable proof that Reuters photojournalist Mario Anzuoni had entered a private home to snap his photos. This particular homeowner would most likely have been evacuated on the Oct. 22, 2007, and not been allowed to return until Oct. 25.
By Oct. 24, it was too late to protest. Reuters and Yahoo! News had published the photos online.
So how could this family possibly have authorized Reuters entry, let alone the publication of these photographs?
The ethical issues for the media here, as well as laws in all 50 United States, are clear-cut. In practice, though, they can be forgotten during the adrenaline rush of covering disasters like Hurricane Katrina and the California wildfires.
Are Reuters reporters somehow immune to private property restrictions? Are Reuters employees free to enter, without knowledge or consent, and take photos of personal possessions during an emergency, when victims are most vulnerable? No.
At least five photographs taken by Reuters photojournalist Mario Anzuoni were potentially illegally obtained while the Rancho Santa Fe homeowners were evacuated. Homeowners were generally not let back until Oct. 25, 2007.
In the case of the doll photos, there was no clear news imperative to enter this little girl’s bedroom. All of the information gleaned from inside this house – images of destruction, charred rubble, and order amid chaos – could have been captured legally from the street.
Based on this information, we presented some straightforward questions to Reuters:
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- Did Anzuoni enter “the charred remains of a girl’s bedroom” on October 23rd with the permission of the home’s evacuated owners?
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- Where was the house located?
- Did Reuters, Anzuoni’s employer, begin on Oct. 24, without the evacuated owner’s authorization, to sell and publish these photos?
Reuters thus far has refused to answer our questions. We wrote Reuters numerous times, beginning with two e-mails on Nov. 2, 2007 and a Nov. 3 query posted on Reuters’ “The Good, the Bad & the Ugly” (GBU) blog.
With no answers, we can only assume that Reuters did not have permission from the owners to enter on Oct. 23, or to sell and publish the photographs by Oct. 24.
Reuters needs to fess up and make transparent any ignorance or violations of state laws regarding Anzuoni’s apparent private property trespass. Reuters also needs to reassure the public that such violations of privacy will not happened again, and such conduct by employees, according to policy, will not be tolerated by Reuters.
Art Science Research Laboratory’s full page display advertisement ran in the North County Times, a local daily newspaper, that serves the Rancho Santa Fe area of California.
In an attempt to notify the family, and learn where and how the photos were taken, we have posted full page color ads in a local newspaper, the North County Times, which is the publication nearest to the alleged location of the fire-doll house. A bigger regional newspaper, The San Diego Union Tribune, is our next planned ad venue.
Please let Reuters know what you think about the miracle doll photos or the now acknowledged illegal entrance of a private home in order to obtain, sell and publish photos. Contact them here
I received this email 12/14/07 from one of our readers, Don Bledsoe:
Dear Ms. Shearer,
Thank you for the work you do at ASRL and via Stinky Journalism.
I spent several hours reading your nightmare of an encounter with Reuters and their GBU blog, and the disgusting photo thugs they used in an attempt to smear and discredit you and your daughter, not to mention the death threat. I have read of some ugly attacks on a person on the web but never anything so vile as what you were exposed to via proxy, and with what one could consider the full knowledge of a major corporation such as Reuters for simply questioning a photograph.
I have long not trusted Reuters for their seeming bias and misleading story bylines. The Lebanon war further cemented that distrust, but I thought they would learn a lesson from that debacle. Perhaps not, based on what you’re uncovering about the fireproof doll.
This is just a simple thank you from an average American citizen for the good work you are doing. Please keep it up because you are making a difference for the rest of us.
God bless you and your family and I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas.
Don Bledsoe
Boise, Idaho
I love that there’s no evidence, whatsoever, of actual wrongdoing on the part of Reuters. All you’ve managed to do is say, repeatedly, that the photo is improbable and to baselessly accuse a Reuters photog of illegally entering private property.
This same report would never appear in an actual media source, because it doesn’t meet the factual standards actual journalists live up to. Like most other bloggers and tabloid papers, you throw shots without proof. Prove something and then I’ll care.
Maybe you missed the ethical timer on the home page citing Reuters’ admission that their photographer entered the house despite the fact the renter told him to keep out. It is an acknowleged fact –thanks to Stinky Journalism not MsM–that Mario Anzuoni wrongly entered this private home. Stinky Journalism has brought to the fore that it is illegal for news media to enter private property without permission of the owner or renter. According to victims of disasters, they often feel victimized twice– first by the disaster, then next by the news media. For example, the owner and renters of the "fire doll" house were furious at the violation of their privacy and the trespass. Do you want a photogrpher you don’t know in your house while you are evacuated taking pictures of your little girls room, selling and publishing them on the web without your permission? I frankly doubt that would be okay with you. This problem does not yet address the staging of the photo or the porn filled harassment (incluidng death threats) of me and my daughter by "friends" of the Reuters photographer.
We are careful and complete. Therefore this is the reason why we wanted to finish our investigation and our negotiations with Reuters (regarding what admissions they will make) before publishing Part II. Go to the annoucement on the home page and the ethical count down page.
"NEWS FLASH 01/08/08: Reuters’ Editor-in-Chief now admits their photojournalist Mario Anzuoni entered house during recent California wildfires evacuation without permission and they were wrong to do so. More info soon. Public announcement forthcoming . Time elapsed since SJ first asked Reuters…"
It makes you wonder what other stories, photos, etc. are manipulated in more subtle ways than this farce of a news story.
Ahh! Where’s part two? Was the family found? Did experts recreate the doll miracle?