A TV channel is in hot water after a photo of female politician Georgie Purcell was allegedly edited to make her look more provocative.
The Australian MP shared the original and altered images on social media, highlighting where the photo that appeared on Nine News had been changed.
The channel blamed “automation by Photoshop” for what it called a “graphic error” but the incident has gone on to spark a sexism row in Australia.
Georgie Purcell told her social media followers that she’d already had a tough day due to the government’s decision to reject a ban on duck hunting – but she couldn’t predict what came next.
She posted on X, previously known as Twitter: “I endured a lot yesterday. But having my body and outfit photoshopped by a media outlet was not on my bingo card.”
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“Note the enlarged boobs and outfit to be made more revealing. Can’t imagine this happening to a male MP. What gives?”
She also mentioned that she has a “whole stomach tattooed”, which wasn’t visible in the edited image. The Animal Justice Party MP often speaks out against the “constant sexualization and objectification” that women in Australian politics face.
Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan slammed Nine News, saying: “That’s no way to represent any woman, let alone a woman who holds a position in public office.” She recalled her own experience with sexism when a cartoonist drew her inappropriately last year.
Allan remarked: “It’s 2023 and I think it’s pretty reasonable to expect that the Herald Sun in-house cartoonist should be able to draw women without using sexualized imagery. They’ve done that. It’s a matter for them.”
Nine News Melbourne’s Hugh Nailon offered an apology to Ms Purcell, stating: “I would like to sincerely apologize to Georgie Purcell for a graphic error that occurred in last night’s bulletin. Our graphics department sourced an online image of Georgie to use in our story on duck hunting.”
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He explained the mistake further: “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. This did not meet the high editorial standards we have and for that we apologize to Ms Purcell unreservedly.”
After an MP slammed a TV channel for sexism, people were angry online. Someone said: “I’m so sorry that happened, it is completely unacceptable.” Another person said: “Oh god, the media in this country is out of control.” An upset person wrote: “Whoever got paid to photoshop this, maybe have a think about what you’re doing with your life?”
Adobe questioned the TV channel’s claim that a mistake was made by photo editing software without human help. A spokesperson said using AI would need “human intervention and approval”.
Ms Purcell accepted Nine’s apology but doubted their story. She worries if it was an accident, it shows how AI could be risky for women in the spotlight, especially as no one spotted the change.
She remarked: “This is not just some random person on the internet. This is an organization with a lot of staff and a lot of resources that frankly should know better.” The MP, who has shared her past as a stripper to get through law school, faces sexist attacks – she’s been targeted even more since the incident. She added: “[They are] criticizing me, telling me to get back on the pole, like weaponizing it against me.”
Sexism is a big problem in Australian politics. A 2021 report showed that one in three people working in federal parliament had faced sexual harassment.
