Last August, a photograph from Reuters appeared in newspapers around the world showing smoke plumes billowing from buildings after an air strike in Beirut. Bloggers soon noticed a strange repeating pattern in the smoke. A portion of the photograph, they said, had been copied and repeated in the picture, exaggerating the amount of smoke and destruction.
Reuters rapidly admitted that the photograph had been faked and removed it, along with 920 other images from the same photographer. It was a precautionary move to avoid using photos of uncertain authenticity. The episode left Reuters and other news organizations worried about inadvertently publishing altered photographs.