A Blog by the Editor of The Middle East Journal

Putting Middle Eastern Events in Cultural and Historical Context

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Al -Ahram Aren't the Only People with Photoshop

The Photoshopped Mubarak Picture is still drawing lots of comment, and has drawn the attention of the Photoshop Disasters website, while The Guardian says Mubarak was left red-faced by the move, but I haven't seen the slightest apology anywhere, or hint of embarrassment. Maybe the Brits just assume anyone with a conscience would be embarrassed. (Maybe the red face was Photoshopped?) (Another note: I linked to blogger Wael Khalil's breaking of the story in my first post on the subject, but as often happens when a story breaks in Arabic, not everyone is giving credit where it's due, so I'll repeat the link. (Even The National seems to think Al-Masry al-Youm broke the story. Hell, I was either ahead of them or pretty much simultaneous with them, but I gave credit. Or is it just that print media can't stand acknowledging being scooped by a mere blogger?)

For another thing, Al-Ahram aren't the only people with Photoshop. Egyptians and others have been weighing in, for example with "Mubarak's New Album," or this posting by Sarah Carr of Mubarak's neglected role in other historical events. (For the captions, you need to know that the original fake — as opposed to these fake fakes — was captioned "The Road to Sharm al-Sheikh." More, please.)

But when you live in a bubble, are you able to hear the laughter?

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