How The New York Times Handles Photography and Visuals

New York Times

20 hours ago

Our photojournalism follows the same guidelines and rules as for text. As we state in our Ethical Journalism Handbook, 'any published images that readers or viewers will understand as depictions of real events or situations must be genuine in every way.'
That means we do not pose or rearrange subjects, or blur, retouch or digitally manipulate the image. We capture scenes as they are happening, without any intervention from the photographer.
Here's how Times photographer Ruth Fremson explains it:
I consider it a privilege when someone allows me into their life and trusts me enough to photograph them. In return I owe them the utmost respect in how I present them to our audience. As a photojournalist I am forbidden from altering a news situation, such as prompting people to do something or moving things around. In short, I don't interfere with the events I'm photographing. Portraits are the exception. They are a collaboration between the photographer and the subject. There, I will guide or coach the subject into specific poses and settings to create the final result.
We do crop photos and sometimes make minimal adjustments to color to ensure we are accurately reproducing the image.
Videography follows the same rules, and when we source photos or video from social media or other platforms we use extensive digital investigative methods to make sure they are real and accurate.
We do not use artificial intelligence to manipulate photos or videos or use the technology to generate images to represent real events or situations. When we publish images created by A.I., we note clearly how they are made.
(Here's more about how The Times uses A.I. technology in its journalism.)