CORPUS CHRISTI, Tx – The editor of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times clapped back at readers for calling a photo taken by one of her photographers “fake," when it later turned out to be something real.
A photo of Bob Hall Pier, which was closed to the public due to coronavirus concerns, was taken by photographer Courtney Sacco. He filed the photo along with images of crowds filling the South Gulf shores.
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But many people who saw the photos began to question the legitimacy of the photos, comparing the closure picture to the one with the crowds. The clouds were positioned differently, and people who say they were at the pier say the conditions were drastically different compared to the photos.
Sacco, a longtime Corpus Christi resident, was threatened via phone calls and social media messages. The editor said enough is enough.
“If a photo is truly worth a thousand words then what he photographed - a bunch of people hanging out at the beach - sure did say a lot,” said Mary Ann Cavazos Bennett, editor of the Corpus Christi Caller-Times who wrote the editorial.
Corpus Christi Caller-Times, owned by USA Today, has an ethics policy which Cavazos briefly stated: “We don’t break the law to get information. We don’t plagiarize or fabricate. We don’t alter photos, video or audio to mislead.”
The editor went on to address fake news and conspiracy theories, noting that it’s the paper’s job to report what’s accurate and to confirm facts and never knowingly produce anything that’s fake.
You can read the full editorial by clicking here.