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How do rogue states compete with a superpower? Photoshop, apparently.
By Kelsey D. Atherton Posted April 2, 2013
Iranian Missile Test, 2008
Sepah News
The first, the best. In early July 2008, Sepah News, the media arm of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards, released a photo of four missiles being launched. The image soon graced the fronta pages of several major newspapers. Skeptics thought something was odd and immediately began picking apart the failed photoshop attempt involved. A cursory look at the original photo revealed that the third rocket from the left was exactly the same down to the exhaust trail as the second rocket, and the cloud of smoke beneath it was copy-pasted from the smoke on the right. This was the military equivalent of disguising a "D" on a report card as an "A," and jokers across the internet had a field day poking fun at what Iran surely hoped was as intimidating show of force. Soon, collections of parody photoshopped images found their way around the internet. Why fake it? First, the media fell for it, which means that even though the hoax was revealed, western media was culpable for running the story without fact-checking it. Everyone left this exchange with a bit of egg on their face. More importantly, the missile launch was digitally edited because one of the missiles failed, and failure to launch is always a little embarrassing. The missiles tested were long-range Shabab-3s, and a successful test would be a nice scary show of force. But a just mostly-successful launch? Policy makers and analysts would immediately turn to discussing technological failure, and the big scary message is undermined. Of course, that also happens when an image is revealed to have been edited, but at least Iran got a good news cycle before game was up.
By Kelsey D. Atherton Posted April 2, 2013
Iranian Missile Test, 2008
Sepah News
The first, the best. In early July 2008, Sepah News, the media arm of the Iran's Revolutionary Guards, released a photo of four missiles being launched. The image soon graced the fronta pages of several major newspapers. Skeptics thought something was odd and immediately began picking apart the failed photoshop attempt involved. A cursory look at the original photo revealed that the third rocket from the left was exactly the same down to the exhaust trail as the second rocket, and the cloud of smoke beneath it was copy-pasted from the smoke on the right. This was the military equivalent of disguising a "D" on a report card as an "A," and jokers across the internet had a field day poking fun at what Iran surely hoped was as intimidating show of force. Soon, collections of parody photoshopped images found their way around the internet. Why fake it? First, the media fell for it, which means that even though the hoax was revealed, western media was culpable for running the story without fact-checking it. Everyone left this exchange with a bit of egg on their face. More importantly, the missile launch was digitally edited because one of the missiles failed, and failure to launch is always a little embarrassing. The missiles tested were long-range Shabab-3s, and a successful test would be a nice scary show of force. But a just mostly-successful launch? Policy makers and analysts would immediately turn to discussing technological failure, and the big scary message is undermined. Of course, that also happens when an image is revealed to have been edited, but at least Iran got a good news cycle before game was up.
