Bush note picture Photoshopped

[Gabu]

It's a hilarious picture, and I honestly can't really see what the big deal is even if is real.  It's not "Memogate II" because I can't really see what the picture is attempting to allege.

[Gabu]

Regarding this story itself, I can't immediately see anything that says that the content of this note itself was forged, only that Photoshop was used to make the words more legible, which is not exactly "doctoring" the photo.  "To doctor" an object is defined by the The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition as "To falsify or change in such a way as to make favorable to oneself".  Simply making the picture readable does not exactly make its content more favorable to oneself.  Neither this article nor any other that I can find says that the actual content of the photo was forged.

I really can't see what the issue is over any portion of this story.

[Gabu]

How much changing was done to the photo?  Did it make it something that was obscure clearer or did it change what was there?  I am very troubled that a major news service would possibly change a photo.

I'll add that, on this thread at least, I have not used the word "doctored."  We know that image has been altered, but has it changed the the content of the photo.

I know that you didn't use the word "doctored", but the site linked to in the original post does do so and then goes on to say that official policy is to fire anyone who doctors a photo; I am saying that altering it by simply making the content more visible is not doctoring a photo, and therefore, is not in conflict with that official policy, and therefore, that the allegation that this is a contradiction is false.

I'll note again that nowhere has it been alleged that the content has been changed.  Until I see some actual evidence that it may have been changed, I currently simply feel that there is no reason to think that it has.  It seems to me that there is nothing wrong with simply making a picture clearer.  For the record, the "burn" feature in Adobe Photoshop does not add anything; it simply uses what is already there and tones it down.

[Gabu]

I'll note again that nowhere has it been alleged that the content has been changed.  Until I see some actual evidence that it may have been changed, I currently simply feel that there is no reason to think that it has.  It seems to me that there is nothing wrong with simply making a picture clearer.  For the record, the "burn" feature in Adobe Photoshop does not add anything; it simply uses what is already there and tones it down.

Okay, why not release the original photo in its "unenhanced" form?

Well, I can't answer that without seeing the original photo.  Presumably, the text would have been very hard to read, if legible at all.