For some wire service photographers, staging dramatic pictures should land them a job in Hollywood. Whether they should be working for a news organization is another question.

This time, it's Reuters - a wire service with a history of running faked photos - who may have staged a dramatic tableau at yesterday's demonstrations in Honduras.

William Jacobsen of the blog Legal Insurrection got a tip that all was not on the up and up with this picture run by Reuters:



Bill reports:

Reuters has run photo of a bloodied Honduran protester (below) dramatizing the bloodshed at protests for Manuel Zelaya. (h/t) Problem is, this photo appears to be staged.

Blogger Hunter Smith, who recently finished his Marine service including two tours in Iraq, flew to Honduras to cover the turmoil. Earlier today, Hunter phoned in this post:

He did see an older man in a white shirt reach down into the blood pool and cover his hands. He then wiped them on his shirt to make it look like his blood or that he had been involved. Hunter saw what he thought was an AP photographer take the man's picture. Hunter said if you see it on the web, don't believe it. It was faked.

If you look at the man in the photo, it is clear that the blood was not the result of a wound, but was wiped on his shirt, just like Hunter said. This photo was staged, although the Reuters photographer did not necessarily know it.