[Leica] Press ethics

[Yods1@aol.com]

Allan,
I'm fortunate to work at a paper that, though a bit glib for my taste
sometimes, is pretty good about ethics in photography. They listen to my
interperetation of what the picture represents and use it accordingly. Our
biggest struggles are with writers and designers who think of photographs as
mere illustrations for their prose and occasionally arrange something that
needs to be dissassembled lest the reader thinks it's a picture of a genuine
moment. 
We seldom go beyond mild dodging and burning. The obvious exceptions are photo
illustrations, but even in portraits we leave things alone. And "hand of God"
burning (to accentuate the subject) was out of style well before computers
came along.
I wouldn't work (or sell) to a publication that misused my pictures.
And I don't want to sound haughty when I refer to photojournalism. Most of the
time I think newspaper work barely qualifies for the title. But anything to
keep it alive...
Dave