JOURNALISM
2021
78 Days
Reuters
The Problem
A photo of Donald Trump’s Presidential inauguration became a turning point for trust in a digital age. In 2017, one composite news image published by Reuters at 2:02 p.m. the day of the inauguration was intended as a straightforward record of the day’s events. Instead, it sparked debate and denialism about the crowd size. It marked a moment when the role of photojournalists was reversed from reporting the news to becoming the news story itself.
The Solution
For 78 days, the transition period from the election and Joe Biden’s inauguration, Starling joined forces with Reuters to authenticate images using new authentication technologies and a professional Canon camera. The project came at a critical time in U.S. history, including images from the Jan. 6th Capitol attack.
Summary
For 78 days, teams at Starling Lab and Reuters worked together to document the presidential transition with new authentication technologies.