Pictures that Lie

The picture that I chose to analyze was the CBS live broadcast of New Year's Eve. My reason for choosing the picture was simply due to the fact that I watch Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve every January 31st, so this was an issue I felt was interesting and something I could relate to. The picture is a frame shot from CBS' broadcast of New Years from Times Square and it was manipulated by putting CBS' logo on the Times Square screen, when in reality NBC's peacock logo was being displayed. The intent behind manipulating the broadcast was simply to conceal NBC's logo and instead promote CBS to audience viewers. This sort of manipulation is not something that can be done through Photoshop, but is instead done through other technology that is available to TV stations. I personally do not believe that this sort of manipulation is harmful. In this case, it is simply one company trying to cover up the advertisement of one of its main competitors. There is no political propaganda or subliminal messages being sent, like so often found in other manipulated photos, which is why I believe this picture/broadcast is fine. The same type of technology used in this picture is often used in sporting events, where advertisements are displayed throughout stadiums and arenas. Instances that I witness the most are in baseball games, on the padding, in front of the seats behind home plate and also in basketball, where the check-in booth is located. If you actually go to the games, you will see that there is nothing really there, or that there is some other advertisement than that displayed on TV. The manipulation is simply the broadcasting station trying to promote itself to the audience opposed to the actual advertisement that is displayed. I believe this is fine, considering the fact that I watch TV specifically for the program being shown, and most of the time don't even notice the advertisements being shown simultaneously. Others may disagree with me, however I feel that I am truly only affected by advertisements on TV if it is a commercial, and not something that broadcasters snuck into the background.