I'm sure this isn't a representative sample, but the Reuters News Photo Service has selected some rather ... interesting photographs to be the "Photos of the Year" this time around. Photos, incidentally, which Reuters photographers did not take.
Exhibit A, a photograph of a person holding a photograph taken by someone completely different:
RNPS IMAGES OF THE YEAR 2008 A member of the Brazilian government delegation holds a photograph showing Cuba's leader Fidel Castro taking a photograph during a meeting with Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva in Havana January 15, 2008. Lula said on Tuesday that Cuban leader Fidel Castro is lucid and healthy enough to resume a political role in Cuba. REUTERS/Enrique De La Osa (CUBA)
RNPS IMAGES OF THE YEAR 2008 Supreme Commander of North Korean People's Army (front) waves as he visits the 2200 military unit to see military training at an undisclosed location in North Korea, in this undated picture released by KCNA November 5, 2008. KCNA did not state expressly the date when the picture was taken and the name of the Supreme Commander of North Korean People's Army, who is usually designated as North Korean leader Kim Jong-il. REUTERS/KCNA (NORTH KOREA). QUALITY FROM SOURCE. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. NOT FOR USE BY REUTERS THIRD PARTY DISTRIBUTORS. NO THIRD PARTY SALES. NOT FOR USE BY REUTERS THIRD PARTY DISTRIBUTORS.
so, if I take a picture of myself in the mirror and then take a picture of that picture, then I too could win an award?
no wonder the MSM standards have fallen. They can't even decide what makes a low-quality low-impact photo, besides one that speaks VOLUMES.