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.
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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.