Associated Incidents
Channel Nine has apologised for altering an image of Victorian Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell shown in a segment of its news broadcast on Monday night, attributing the error to an AI tool in picture editing platform Photoshop.
The image of the state politician, used in a segment covering changes to duck hunting rules, was shared by Purcell in a social media post on Tuesday morning in which she questioned why her appearance was different to that in the original image.
"I endured a lot yesterday. But having my body and outfit photoshopped by a media outlet was not on my bingo card," Purcell posted.
"Note the enlarged boobs and outfit to be made more revealing. Can't imagine this happening to a male MP. What gives?"
A statement from Nine Melbourne news director Hugh Nailon said it was the result of automated resizing on picture editing platform Photoshop, citing AI rather than human error.
"Our graphics department sourced an online image of Georgie to use in our story on duck hunting," Nailon said.
"As is common practice, the image was resized to fit our specs. During that process, the automation by Photoshop created an image that was not consistent with the original.
Channel Nine is owned by Nine Entertainment Co, which also owns this masthead.
On Tuesday afternoon, Adobe, the creator of Photoshop said any changes made to the image would have required human intervention and approval.
Following the statement, a Nine spokesperson confirmed there was human intervention in the decision to use the image but said no instructions had been given on the tone of the picture.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said she was concerned to hear Channel Nine altered an image of Victorian Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell.
Premier Jacinta Allan said she was concerned to hear about the misrepresentation when asked on Tuesday.
"That's no way to represent any woman, let alone a woman who holds a position in public office, represents a community and is in the public discourse every single day."
The premier said altered depictions like the one broadcast on Nine News can discourage women from entering politics.
"We know it can because young women tell us that themselves and that's why again, it's important to both call it out, which I think is what's happening here this morning.
"It's important to call it out, to identify, to do better and to understand that we have come a long way, but we've still got a way to go."