iMediaEthics launched an investigation after bloggers and others questioned the validity of a Reuters photograph that featured an unburned doll lying on top of the charred remains of a California house. Now Reuters is stonewalling efforts to bring in fire engineering experts to analyze high-resolution photographs.
iMediaEthics is also investigating the possibility that a Reuters photojournalist trespassed on private property to obtain photographs of a tragically destroyed home. In the face of misogynist, hate-filled campaign against Rhonda Roland Shearer and her daughter, by a “friend” of the photographer, Shearer continues to ask Reuters to live up to the standards of ethics and integrity professed by its CEO, Tom Glocer.
Story Highlights:
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- iMediaEthics investigates Reuters’ controversial miracle fire-doll photographs, asks if the doll was fireproof or was placed or fell into the ruins after the fire?
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- Reuters claims it knows, but will not reveal, where the photos were taken. SJ offers $1,000 reward for information that identifies Rancho Santa Fe (Calif.) house location.
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- Reuters refuses to answer whether or not its employee trespassed on private property to obtain the photographs illegally.
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- Reuters refuses to provide fire engineering experts – its own or ours — with the high-resolution fire-doll photos for examination.
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- Tom Glocer, Reuters CEO, writes to iMediaEthics stating he “launched a full investigation” into misogynist hate campaign against iMediaEthics publisher Rhonda Roland Shearer (and her daughter) condoned by Mario Anzuoni, the Reuters photojournalist who’s credited for the fire-doll photos.
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- Glocer, addressing the allegations of porn filled attacks against Shearer and her daughter, writes “Under no circumstances will Reuters condone any form of sexual or other discrimination or aggression.” Glocer CCs his top brass, Rosemary Martin, Stephen Dando and David Schlesinger.
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- North County Times, managing editor, Dan McSwain said he values iMediaEthics’s role: “So you [iME] actually helped us uncover a hole in our education here. We’re in the process of letting everybody know that, ‘hey, here’s the deal…if there’s a landslide, or an earthquake, or if our nuke goes down, stay off of private property.’ ”
- Stinky News Channel parody video debuts on YouTube.com. “We Will Burn Doll: Reuters’ real or placed doll needs test.”
More photos of the doll and the little girl’s bedroom, shot by Reuters’ photojournalist, Mario Anzuoni, in Rancho Santa Fe area , October 23, 2007. Published October 24, 2007.
I tried to imagine what it would feel like to be evacuated from my house and then to open my laptop in a cheap motel or relative’s basement, only to find that images of my little girl’s doll and other personal items, strewn through the ruins of my house, were now for public consumption on Reuters and Yahoo! News galleries.
Thankfully, for me, this was just a thought experiment. Others may not be so lucky. So far, we have been unable to locate them or the house, despite an extensive search. They likely are still unaware that their daughter’s Shirley Temple doll and the interior of her bedroom is being shown globally online, on Reuters, Yahoo and ABC news sites.