Row over altered US Army photo

The Pentagon has become embroiled in a row after the US Army released a photo of a general to the media which was found to have been digitally altered.
Ann Dunwoody was shown in front of the US flag but it later emerged that this background had been added, and that her uniform details had been changed.
The Associated Press (AP) news agency subsequently suspended the use of US Department of Defence photos.

A Pentagon spokeswoman said the photo had not violated army policy.
Gen Dunwoody, America's highest ranking female military officer, was recently promoted to become a four-star general.
In an original photo of her, she appears to be sitting at a desk with a bookshelf behind her.
For us, there's a zero-tolerance policy of adding or subtracting actual content from an image
Santiago Lyon AP
It also shows three stars on her uniform identifying her as a lieutenant-general, her rank prior to her promotion.
The altered photo, distributed by the army and initially sent by AP to its clients around the world, shows Gen Dunwoody against a background of the Stars and Stripes, with no stars on her uniform.

When the digital alteration was discovered, AP immediately withdrew the photo and began an investigation.
AP says that adjusting photos and other imagery, even for aesthetic reasons, damages the credibility of the information distributed by the military to news organisations and the public.
"For us, there's a zero-tolerance policy of adding or subtracting actual content from an image," said Santiago Lyon, AP's director of photography.

Mr Lyon said AP was developing procedures to protect against further occurrences and, once those steps were in place, it would consider lifting its ban on the use of US Department of Defence photos. He said AP was also discussing the problem with the military.
Colonel Cathy Abbott, chief of the US Army's media relations division, said the Dunwoody photo did not violate army policy that prohibited the cropping or editing of an image to misrepresent the facts or change the circumstances of an event.
She added that did not know who changed the photo or which office released it.
"We're not misrepresenting her," Abbott said. "The image is still clearly Gen Dunwoody."