Newsweek Changes Crediting Policy Following Cover Flap

Newsweek has reacted to the controversy surrounding last week's Martha Stewart cover.

Beginning with the March 14 issue, Newsweek editor Mark Whitaker says bylines for cover photos and illustrations will now appear directly on the cover, marking a shift from the industry practice of crediting cover photos on the table of contents page.

Newsweek is the first major news magazine to adopt the crediting policy. Whitaker says the decision resulted from conversations with his creative staff over last week's cover, which used digital manipulation to merge an image of Stewart's head onto a model's body. Media critics and readers alike felt that the composite image looking deceptively real.

"We credit photos directly on the page with the photo everywhere else in the magazine, and there's no reason readers shouldn't be able to immediately see where a photograph on the cover came from," Whitaker says.

Whitaker apologized for last week's cover, which he says was "just dumb and badly executed," and says the magazine did not intend to mislead readers.

"I think this was a case where I did not exercise enough judgment about whether this was appropriate for a news magazine, for our kind of news magazine, and I take responsibility for that," Whitaker says. "We're not going to make this particular mistake again."

Whitaker says the magazine's staffers had discussed whether or not to label the Stewart photo illustration on the cover prior to publication, but ultimately decided the step lacked precedent. In the end they labeled it on the table of contents.

The ensuing controversy was the latest in a long string of embarrassments to hit a major American magazine over the use of digitally manipulated images in the last few years.

When asked if he thought other magazines should adopt similar procedures, Whitaker said, "We're not speaking for anybody else. We're taking this step and we'll see if the photographic community and the ethics police think it's appropriate for other people to do."

Other magazines have taken steps to let readers know when photos have been digitally retouched for esthetic reasons. Sports Illustrated adopted the practice in 2003 after sharp-eyed readers complained when the magazine digitally removed a soccer player's leg from a photo.

Kelly McBride, the ethics group leader at the journalism think tank the Poynter Institute, applauds Newsweek's step towards transparency but says magazines can do more to inform their readers.

"In addition to labeling [photo illustrations], you'll do a greater service to readers if you give them a definition to the label," McBride says. "These are words we use all the time in the journalism world but they might not be clear to readers."

McBride says magazines and newspapers should encourage more people to participate in the decision-making process before approving such images. That way, she says, editors can better anticipate how readers will react, and avoid future controversies.

"If credible organizations were transparent on a regular basis, news consumers would learn to read that transparency and when they don't see that, they'll begin to ask questions," she says. "Then, the news organizations with the best standards will rise to the top."

What do you think about digital manipulation and the use of photo illustrations in editorial publications? Readers are encouraged to send their thoughts on the subject to editor@pdnonline.com. Excerpts will be published in this space on Thursday.