LGF Tipster Profiled

Wed, Aug 16, 2006 at 7:50:44 am PDT

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel has an article on Mike Thorson, the LGF reader who tipped me off to Adnan Hajj’s fauxtography: Janesville man spotted doctoring of photo from war in Middle East.

The furor over a photograph began in such a quiet, ordinary way.

Mike Thorson, a Janesville artist and part owner of a tool distribution company, was sitting at his computer on a Saturday, checking a few news sites after looking at his e-mail. On Yahoo, he came across a Reuters photograph purporting to show the smoky aftermath of an Israeli air raid on the Beirut suburbs.

“As soon as I saw it something looked very strange,” said Thorson, 39. ...

“I was shocked,” Thorson said later. “This is supposed to be serious. Reuters is a very well-known and respected wire service.”

Within minutes Thorson went to the political blog Little Green Footballs and sent a comment about his suspicions that the photo had been doctored. He thought of the blog because it had been among those questioning the authenticity of the documents “60 Minutes II” used in a report on President George W. Bush’s record in the Texas Air National Guard. The very next morning, Aug. 6, Thorson saw his suspicions posted on Little Green Footballs, and the story soon caught fire.

“I was really surprised that the story got to be as big as it did,” Thorson said. “I certainly didn’t mean for anybody to lose their job or anything like that. I am glad that it was exposed.

”I think people do need to have some sort of skepticism about the news: What’s being presented? Who’s presenting it? Do they have an agenda? What’s being left out?"