During a recent NBC’s ‘Today’ show report, a photojournalist has slammed NBC for deliberately altering its photos of UPenn transgender swimmer Lia Thomas, apparently making Thomas more feminine.
The Today show faced criticism for utilizing photographs that were significantly softened or “airbrushed,” during his March 17 segment on the Trans swimmer as Thomas competed at the NCAA finals in Georgia.
Watch how giddy NBC’s ‘Today’ show is about Lia Thomas crushing the competition at the NCAA D1 women’s swimming and diving championships.
Gross. pic.twitter.com/wJb8AWBAdK
— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) March 17, 2022
A photojournalist who took some of the photos is now accusing NBC of manipulating his work.
Erica Denhoff told The Washington Examiner Wednesday,
“I pride myself on providing authentic images as a photojournalist.”
“It’s really important as photojournalists that we convey genuine photos that have not been altered.”
Denhoff, a student-athlete and University of Pennsylvania graduate, said, agreeing with critics who claim NBC edited the photos.
“When I first noticed the airbrush on the referenced segment, I honestly thought something was wrong with the video. But then I looked at it again and thought: “Wait a minute, that seems to be intentional. Lia’s features are softened,” Denhoff exclaimed.
Denhoff said that once she learned of the criticism, she compared her actual photos to the shots used by NBC and saw a noticeable difference. His images were softened and blurred by the television network.
Denhoff said of NBC’s March 17 report, “To me, it really looks like something was going on with the airbrushing/noise reduction of all of Lia’s photos in this segment.”
“I’m surprised and disappointed that Today changed my image of Lia for this particular news segment,” Denhoff said confirming that some of the photos used in the segment were his photos.
In a report by the Newyork Post:
An image of controversial transgender swimmer Lia Thomas that aired on The Today Show was manipulated to make her appear more feminine, experts said.
“The edited image has definitely undergone some sort of softening and smoothing effect,” Jonathan Gallegos, a former White House director of digital content for President Trump, told The Post. “It’s clear this job was not done by a professional. This level of skin smoothing is a hallmark sign of an amateur job.”
“Wow. That’s really bad,” said a photographer who wished to remain anonymous for fear of reprisals from trans activists.
Last week, social media users slammed NBC for using the softened photos:
I know, right? Compare and contrast… pic.twitter.com/yQq5e5KnEY
— Sandieannie (@Sandieannie1910) March 17, 2022
Just an even closer look….. pic.twitter.com/ym7MwqMMra
— Pi♤n○Dentℹst 🟥🏴 (@PianoDentist86) March 18, 2022
Sources: Thegatewaypundit, Nypost, Bulldogreports