There have been a few times in the past that reporters had to say sorry for doctoring photos to suit their interests or needs.. As a matter of fact, Dartmouth College has a far-reaching historical view of photo doctoring through history back to Lincoln and updated in August 2009 with the Microsoft ad that removed an African American ..

But would anyone feel pity on Dick Cheney?

NEWSWEK magazine recently published a real photograph of Dick Cheney that wasn't doctored, but instead the picture was cropped. The image left was Dick Cheney cutting what appeared to be a giant slab of bloody debris on a white plate.. Savage-looking and evil, the story did what NEWSWEEK had hoped: It made Dick Cheney look monstrous..

But the real image of the Cheney household, seen here on Andrew Sullivan's DAILY DISH,, shows Cheney cutting the caucus but the magazine chose to crop out the family photo.. But the man who took the photo for Getty, David Hume Kennedy, wrote a complaint about how NEWSWEEK cropped the photo.

The photographer smited wrote,

"The issue, of course, is not just about cropping. It is about the erosion of credibility in the news business in general. The great journalist Edward R. Murrow said, 'In seeking the truth, you get both sides of the story.' In this instance, and by its spokesman's own admission, Newsweek never intended to seek the truth --— but instead, and unapologetically, skewed imagery to advance its editorial agenda"

While I lost my respect for NEWSWEEK magazine since the newsweekly changed its cover design and editorial content, recent weeks have brought about groans at newsstands and mailboxes. A few weeks back, NEWSWEEK declared that there were aliens.. After that issue, the next accused your baby of being racist. And a recent issue declared that there was an ethical quality in choosing to pull out the life out of "grannny," with the cover image featuring and unplugged cord illustrating the death of the nameless senior citizen.

But the ethics of cropping images brings about several questions..

Images are used by magazines and blogs as editorial content. The image of George W. Bush landing an aircraft had much different meaning in 2003 compared to what it does now. And further, photographs of a triumphant Barack Obama on election night has been soured by arguments about health care.

But for a news organization to crop out an image soley as a way to attack a person, it becomes a different story. Cropping the image of Cheney may have been one thing if he wasn't working with bloody food.. The scene of the family in the background puts the image in context. NEWSWEEK wasn't looking for context, but as Mr. Kennedy wrote about the photo: "In the case of my Cheney photo, Newsweek is guilty not just of blurring but of blowing up that line between tabloid-style sensationalism and honest photojournalism."

Recent polling has suggested that a vast majority of Americans have lost their respect in journalism and the facts that reporters give.. With stories of magazines claiming ethical standards cropping images of targets they disagree with, it's no wonder that people are losing their faith in traditional staples of American reporting.