Fake tsunami photos fool media

Running photos and information from "citizen journalists" on news sites, in a newspaper or on air is a great idea -- as long as the news organizations can verify the information. Unfortuntately, several media organizations -- including The Times of India, the Calgary Herald and Channel Nine and Sky News in Australia -- fell victim to publishing and airing photos allegedly of the tsunami, that turned out to actually be from a 2002 tidal bore in China.

Here's a look at some of the fake photos making the rounds online.

So far few news organizations have figured out how to handle photos and information from "citizen journalists" on a large scale while still applying the same level of verification news organizations traditionally apply to information before publishing. Figuring that out will be key to mainstream media organizations' ability to incorporate citizen journalism as it evolves.

Researchers are working on technology that may help detect fake photos, by the way. But at least for now, there's no substitute for an editor's sharp eye.

January 11, 2005 | BY JONATHAN DUBE