Venezuela: how photos get manipulated

[Judi Lynn]

Venezuela: how photos get manipulated
Published on: Sun Feb 23, 2014
Author: Luigino Bracchi Roa
Source: Alba Ciudad/Rebelión.org

This article provides graphic evidence of how some postings on social and other media have reproduced images culled from elsewhere and portrayed them as depicting events in Venezuela. Of course they do not prove that all images of violence in Venezuela are false, and the merry-go-round of image circulation in social media may mean that those tweeters whose names appear are not necessarily those who knew them to be false. LAB has translated this article from a posting on Rebelión.org. The original, in Spanish, can be viewed here.

Dozens of images are circulating at this moment on social networks and in the media in different countries, as a way of alleging that there is a 'cruel repression' by the security forces of Venezuela against opposition demonstrations. Alba Ciudad has compiled some of these images in order to challenge this campaign of lies against Venezuela.



Above left: an opposition tweet shows a supposedly Venezuelan student beaten by '"fascist assassins" of the PSUV. Right: the phone in fact shows Unai Romano, a young man detained, beaten and tortured in 2005 by the Spanish police.



Above left: Opposition twitter-user Daniela Frias posts a photo of a supposedly Venezuelan student on the point of tears, trying to hug a policeman. "You and I are both Venezuelans, friend," says the text of the tweet. Right: the image in fact comes from events which occurred in Bulgaria in 2013.



Above left: opposition tweeters show the image of a supposedly Venezuelan student being grabbed by the neck and dragged along by national guards. Right: the photo in fact shows repression of students in Chile in October 2011.



Above left: a tweet assures us that they formed a vast human chain against Maduro in Táchira, hand-in-hand and wearing yellow t-shirts, symbol of the right-wing party Primero Justicia. Right: the photo is in fact of a human chain formed in September 2013 in Cataluña, Spain, to demand independence for the region.

More:
http://lab.org.uk/venezuela-how-photos-get-manipulated

[Mika]

1. I've seen every one of those on Facebook and several here at DU.

Can't forget this one ...

[Judi Lynn]

2. Horrifying, isn't it? That they would be this bogus? On second thought, it seems natural!

The images really help to put things in perspective, don't they?

Just not they way they intended.

"Esto es Venezuela..es el Hospital Central de Maracay!!" Oh, you betcha.

[center][/center]

[delrem]

3. Essence: this is done to inflame.

It seems to be a point, that some posters seek to inflame. Violence.
That is all they do. They seem to be tuned into some inflammatory sites.

They don't seem to be very much on the ball w.r.t. actual social issues.

[pragmatic_dem]

4. this is so amazing in its audacity and stupidity, almost as if done by cia nt

[Flatulo]

12. I think either faction would stoop to distributing easily debunked pics to discredit the other side.

The first casualty of war is the truth, and such.

[arikara]

5. K&r

Good info. Thanks

[freshwest]

6. What is the audience for these stolen images? Whose opinion do they hope to change?

I doubt the locals believe in these images, or their minds are already made up.

Is it for Americans? What do they care what we think?

It's still a crappy thing to do and and doesn't reflect well on whatever idiot did it.

[Judi Lynn]

7. Perception management. Propaganda. That would be my unshakable belief.

Deliberate attempts to form your opinion for you.

Think of all the time that saves, not to mention the wear and tear upon our beautiful brains.

Leaves them fresh for more important tasks, like planning what we'll have for dinner.

[eridani]

8. Remember how quickly Skinner found how Zimmerman faked his painting on ebay?

You't think that these people could figure out what Google can do these days.

[Mika]

9. Doesn't matter.

I'm sure you've read those studies that affirm that a person's initial information (or disinfo) on a subject remains entrenched. Even more so when countered with truthful info. I've read a few of those here on DU.

So, posting BS and lies over social media and web blogs/discussion sites actually works on the less informed.

A good defense is to try to be well rounded in one's knowledge - read multiple versions of pro and con, do honest research.

[Marksman_91]

10. Oh gee wiz, photos from nearly 2 months ago that people have stopped spreading

Every time something like this happens, people from the opposition themselves tell those who spread the photos to stop doing so. They recognize the photos are not relevant to the current situation and at least make an effort to halt it, and they rightfully do so. I'm curious to see if you can find another manipulated photo from the last few weeks or so to see if they kept doing so.

Also, another thing, these photos? They're not being published by media or news outlets, but rather from a bunch of random people using twitter. It'd be worth talking about if news outlets based in Venezuela started doing so, but so far it's only random citizens. Instead, in state-owned TV stations and programs, they have been caught blatantly lying and even in the act of using images one can find in a Google search they tried to pass off as legit. Exhibit A: National Assembly president and Hugo's best pal Diosdado Cabello

Video of Cabello accusing opposition airsoft player Alejandro Marquez of being a paramilitary trained in the US using pictures of Marquez's social media when in reality they were just pictures of him in his airsoft gear and with teammates. All of Cabello's accusations have pretty much been proven false:

Exhibit B: Tareck El Aissami

In this video, Tareck El Aissami, governor of Aragua state, uses state-controlled channel VTV to talk about a supposed Chinese mercenary (whose face they don't even reveal) who was selling war weaponry when in reality (and they actually show it in the footage) the weapons shown were simply airsoft guns (they didn't even bother covering the orange tips indicating they're not real weapons)

Like I said, those who use manipulated images from the opposition are only random citizens using social media. When it comes from the pro-government side, however, government officials themselves are the ones manipulating information and images, and in NATIONAL TELEVISION. You tell me which one is worse.

[Flatulo]

13. <chirp>

[eridani]

14. Sory, but the media in Venezuela is wholly owned by the opposition n/t

[ChangoLoa]

15. Good joke!

If you're not joking, please show it.

[Marksman_91]

17. Oh, that so? Well, I happen to be Venezuelan...

And I pretty much lived there for most of my life and still have my family living there. The only media that the opposition "owns" are some newspapers and news websites. All the other tv stations, including Globovision (since April 2013), are privately owned by pro-government figures or by "neutral" owners who won't show anything about the protests because the government has threatened any TV stations to not do so. If you actually watched any national television at all in the country or had any close relatives and friends living there you'd know this. The only media that the opposition can use is mostly the internet along with social media like Twitter or Facebook. And the Internet is not exactly that accessible at all times to those sectors that vote mostly pro-government.

[eridani]

23. "the common attitude has been that we can leave aside ethics and the rules of journalism".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_of_Venezuela

After the 1998 election of Hugo Chavez, the Venezuelan press "failed miserably in their duty to provide information that their fellow citizens needed to navigate the storms of Venezuelan politics under Chavez. Instead, media owners and their editors used the news - print and broadcast - to spearhead an opposition movement against Chavez."[4] The programme of Bolivarian Missions was (until 2005) "virtually invisible in the mainstream press".[4] Encouraged by verbal attacks by Chavez and other officials, editors "began routinely winking at copy containing unfounded speculation, rumor, and unchecked facts."[4] This contributed to a polarization such that for a time reporters were regularly attacked in the street by Chavez supporters with bottles and sticks.[4] According to a political reporter for El Nacional speaking in 2005, "the common attitude has been that we can leave aside ethics and the rules of journalism".[4] Alonso Moleiro said that "Reporters bought the argument that you have to put journalistic standards aside, that if we don't get rid of Chavez, we will have communism and Fidelismo."[4] The head of the Institute for Press and Society in Venezuela said that "here you had the convergence in the media of two things: grave journalistic errors - to the extreme of silencing information on the most important news events - and taking political positions to the extreme of advocating a nondemocratic, insurrectional path."[4] After the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt, in which the media played a significant role, there was a change in editorial policy of the major newspapers, with a wider mix of opposition, pro-Chavez and independent commentators. The generally non-partisan Últimas Noticias gained circulation at the expense of El Nacional and El Universal, which remained more associated with the opposition. Television networks also moderated their tone, with several of the opposition talk shows with the most extreme rhetoric, including talk of violence against Chavez and his followers, taken off the air.[4]

In 2009 the government reviewed the broadcast licences of hundreds of radio and television stations, and declared many to have been operating without a licence or without having paid the appropriate regulatory fees.[5] As a result over 60 radio stations were closed.[6] The government said the frequencies would be reallocated to community media,[5] and passed a law limiting ownership of radio and television licences to three per private owner. This was aimed at tackling what it called "media latifundios", with 27 families controlling a third of radio and television.[5]

[Marksman_91]

25. Please point me the specific channels and tv stations in Venezuela that supposedly report lies

I'd REALLY love to know which ones they are, seeing as you seem to be an expert on the going-on's of a certain country than someone who was actually born and raised there, and speaks the nation's language.

For the record, I clearly stated that many TV stations are privately owned, but government pressure and censorship has actually kept them from reporting the reality of the country as it is. The only way people actually know about the anti-government protests have been through either social media or basic cable you have to pay extra for, and even then, it's only foreign channels, like NTN24 and CNN en Español, that report anything regarding the opposition. Zero, and I repeat, ZERO channels that are played on TV at a national level actually report anything that would remotely pass off as a negative for the government. The last TV channel that used to do this was Globovision, which was bought off mostly by Raul Gorrin in April 14, 2013, and since then the channel has gone completely silent regarding anything involving opposition rallies and so on and has had many of its workers who were critical of the government fired or silenced. Obviously the government isn't going to simply replace the channels with another program, that would make it too obvious they are wanting to control all the media. Instead they use proxies like Mr. Gorrin to buy off the channels and shape subtly shape the programming to their will. At a national level, the only way people in Venezuela can know about anything that talks against the government is through the internet. I know it because I've seen it with my own eyes and actually have friends and family still living there.

[ChangoLoa]

28. You said: "the media in Venezuela is wholly owned by the opposition"

Do you care to substantiate that or you're just randomly saying stuff that sounds nice?

[eridani]

30. Media role in the 2003 coup

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Venezuelan_coup_d'%C3%A9tat_attempt

Mainstream Venezuelan media outlets such as El Universal, El Nacional, El Nuevo País, Globovisión, Televen, CMT and RCTV supported the coup.[90] At the same time, only the anti-Chávez point of view was reflected in the news reports of international media agencies and organizations.[91][92]

In the run up to the coup, the private media had supported the anti-government demonstrations. The 11 April edition of El Nacional was headlined "The Final Battle Will Be in Miraflores".[93] In March RCTV had given blanket coverage to anti-government demonstrations whilst not covering pro-Chávez ones altogether.[94] On 11 April, the anti-government march, the message "remove Chávez", and the call to redirect the march to the presidential palace in Miraflores, were "widely announced, promoted, and covered by privately owned television channels, and whose explicit support for the opposition became evident." A steady stream of unpaid ads asked Venezuelans to participate in the insurrection.[95] Andrés Izarra, then the managing producer of RCTV's El Observador, later told the National Assembly that he had received clear instructions from owner Marcel Granier that on 11 April and following days he should air "[n]o information on Chávez, his followers, his ministers, and all others that could in any way be related to him."[96] The coup plotters, including Carmona, met at the offices of TV network Venevisión.[90] After Chávez was detained, protests by Chávez supporters, including riots and looting which led to 19 deaths, broke out in parts of Caracas.[94] RCTV sent its reporters to quiet parts of town for "live shots of tranquility" and ignored the events.[94]

[joshcryer]

31. Strange how Venevision is still on the air, since they hosted the coupsters.

Couldn't happen to do with the owner being a billionaire and friends with Carter...

[eridani]

36. You think any US media outlet would still be on the air in an equivalent situation?

I'll bet not.

[joshcryer]

37. No, I absolutely do not.

Why is Venevision still airing despite literally hosting the generals who were ousting Chavez in 2002?

Why?

Maybe because the owner is a billionaire? A boligarch? Because maybe Carter went down there and had a fishing trip and told 'em, "Hey, you need to change your programming."

I frankly couldn't give two shits less about RCTV losing their license if Venevision lost theirs too.

RCTV lost their license because they refused to change their programming, not because they were coupsters. Venevision quite literally hosted the coupsters in their own studios. They should not be on the air.

edit: if a US studio hosted coupsters against the elected President, they, their facilities, and many of their journalists would no doubt be in jail for treason... we're not talking about "covering the events" we're talking about literally having some generals or fascists or whatever into their studios, and having them broadcast from there. It's unthinkable. The whole damn studio would go to jail for treason.

[ChangoLoa]

41. No, you see, you used the present tense, you didn't say: "12 years ago..."

The coup was in 2002 btw...

So, again, you said: "the media in Venezuela is wholly owned by the opposition"

What is your source? Do you have no source at all?

I'll give you a hint: I imagine it's not on purpose, but for any Venezuelan, chavista or not, it is quite evident that you're diffusing disinformation.

[Zorro]

11. No doubt about it

You're the forum expert on photo manipulation.

[joshcryer]

35. Context:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/110825587

OP posted photoshopped BS before and never even apologized for the lies...

[ChangoLoa]

39. No morality, no ethics.

[ChangoLoa]

16. Ridiculous 3rd posting of this non-news about random twitter accounts.

On the one hand, the government is manipulating news and pictures on prime time national TV. The Minister of Interior and the President of the Parliament openly lying!!!

On the other hand, random twitter users are putting very obvious fake pics on their personal accounts.

But the worshipers' conclusion: the opposition is manipulating the truth.

The madurista here really think people are stupid!

[Mika]

18. Oh. How cute. Random twitter users.

Online Propaganda - Invisible Tool of Secret Government
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10024689867

[Flatulo]

19. If your implication is that the US government is behind these phony images,

isn't it likely they'd do a better job? These phony pics were busted within hours using nothing more sophisticated than google. Why use recycled materials when you can employ Hollywood grade special effects at will?

It makes no sense.

[Mika]

20. There's plenty of useful idiots.

GIGO

[Flatulo]

21. No doubt, and their amateurishness shows. But I believe

the implication was that sinister state forces were behind these. I apologize if I misread this.

Other than kids with Photoshop, I don't see anyone with the force of the State behind this.

[eridani]

24. Venezuela doubtless has its own equivalent of the Koch brothers nmt

[Marksman_91]

26. Yep, it certainly does, and one of them is called Diosdado Cabello n/t

[ChangoLoa]

29. Why would they hurt the credibility of the opposition by posting such absurd

obvious fake pics on twitter?

If you see a picture of a Thai cop beating up students in Bangkok with the words "Canadian mounted police out of control in Saskatchewan" writen under it, don't you get any doubts on its origin?

Obviously, out of the million Twitter users, some will rt...

How is that "the opposition"? Don't you realize the absurdity of this thing?

[joshcryer]

33. The video is down but here's an instance a year ago:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/110813987

Oh, oops, this is actually someone in government tweeting lies.

[joshcryer]

34. Opposition officials are super careful.

They have to be.

They can't just retweet some random shit because it could be fake.

And hell, that one student who fell off the roof, the opposition didn't even take it up even though I personally believe he was a casualty of the government because he wouldn't have been up there spectating if the government wasn't cracking down. But even still no opposition member recognized his death because it was an accident.

Lots of twitter users did though with mixed results. Some were mocked for calling it government related (it most certainly was; again, he would not have climbed to the roof to see what was going on if there were no crackdowns). Others called out the blame government people for being propagandists, etc.

If you haven't seen the video I can't find it right now, but the kid was climbing back down from the roof, fell, and then rolled off the roof (in theory the fall shouldn't have killed him but he doubtless landed on his head / neck with the way he rolled off). It doesn't show gore but it's still disturbing to know someone died from such a preventable accident (mainly; his friend should've helped him down but was also too distracted with the national guard cracking down).

[Judi Lynn]

22. Mika, you are so exceptional to have left this link for those of us who follow Octofish.

I missed it the first time, and am truly thankful to have gotten the chance to see it today.

So glad you took the time to find it originally, and to share it hoy dia with this forum when it is certainly useful.

Just like Octafish, you are a person of conscience, depth, great intelligence.

Thank you.

[ChangoLoa]

27. Do you actually think the opposition benefits from these pictures?

Don't be naive, they're gold for Venezuelan government TV and their believers in forums like this one.

[joshcryer]

32. Heh, yes, random twitter users.

You won't get officials posting BS unless it's a chavista. I showed a lot of chavista lies being touted last year. Most notably the fake video attributing Capriles supporters to police thugs. Turns out the police department had surveillance video they showed that proved, in fact, a chavistas set the video up.

edit: found it: http://www.democraticunderground.com/110813987

edit 2: it is fucking incredibly scary how Google found this post with the worst keywords ever... goddamn.

[ChangoLoa]

40. Wanna see real manipulation by the madurista media?

Instead of this ridiculous, short-legged twitter content, that the resident worshipers are pathetically trying to present as "media manipulation".

Check Correo del Orinoco's report on people celebrating carnival instead of demonstrating when the protest stated. Eva Golinger's newspaper, funded by the Venezuelan government, trying to convince people that no one is going to the protests... with a 2 year old picture.

MADURISTA PROPAGANDA
http://www.correodelorinoco.gob.ve/politica/mas-150-carrozas-comparsas-y-trajes-individuales-desfilaron-por-avenidas-maturin/#.UxKDDPN1f4V.twitter

REALITY
http://www.laprensademonagas.info/Articulo.aspx?aid=78536