Yet another Reuters embarassment

To the surprise of few, more evidence that Reuters has a serious, pervasive problem with the photographers they've been hiring in the Middle East:

A videotape that the prosecution presented to the judge shows Boghnat encouraging and directing rioters in Bil'in to throw large chunks of rock at Israeli vehicles in such a way as to cause maximum damage. The accused is heard shouting, "Throw, throw!" and later, "Throw towards the little window!"

First there was Adnan Hajj and his creative use of Photoshop. Now, Imad Muhammad Intisar Boghnat gets into the act by, um, getting into the act. Or rather, personally directing the action.

The article doesn't say wheter Boghnat is a Reuters employee or a stringer, as Hajj was. It doesn't really matter, however. Boghnat's is every bit as big a journalistic sin as Hajj's was and both reflect equally poorly on Reuters, an organization with a richly deserved anti-American and anti-Israeli reptutation.

I am a former (non-editorial) Reuters employee. It was a great company to work for and almost none of my job was related to the news side. In fact, over ninety percent of Reuters' revenue comes from selling market information to brokers and investors. The news agency part of the business is small potatoes in the great scheme of things.

However, as more of this type of thing is reported, this will undoubtedly begin to hurt the company's other business.

The onus is on Reuters to clean house in its editorial operations and prove that they can be a trusted source of down-the-middle journalism.