The Photo Feed 05.15.08

How The Media Helped The Pentagon (Editor & Publisher)
Just how successful has the Pentagon’s embedded journalist program in Iraq been? It depends on whom you ask and which journalists you’re talking about. Still, the biggest victor might be the Pentagon. According to sociologist Andrew M. Lindner, “The embedded program proved to be a Pentagon victory because it kept reporters focused on the horrors facing the troops, not the horrors of the civilian war experience.” He added, “The end result: a communications victory for an administration that hoped to build support for the war by depicting it as a successful mission with limited cost.”

Galveston Photog Cleared Of Interfering With Police (AP via Houston Chronicle)
A year-and-a-half after being arrested for refusing to stop photographing an arrest, Nick Adams has been acquitted. The prosecution argued that Adams, who was an intern at the Galveston County Daily News when he was arrested at Galveston’s 2007 Mardi Gras festival, had entered the safety perimeter that officers had established while arresting a man. But Adams’ attorney, Anthony Griffin, argued that police deleted some of Adams’ picture while he was in custody, and that these images would have shown that Adams was actually outside the perimeter. Adams has since moved on to The Appeal-Democrat in Northern California, but he praised the verdict for upholding the First Amendment.

A Reminder From China (Reuters Photographers)
It’s hard to find any good in the aftermath of China’s recent earthquake. But as Reuters photographer David Viggers points out, the photographs of the aftermath remind us of “the ease and speed with which still pictures can impart so much readily understood information to so many people.”

MORE BELOW: Liz Hurley and Hugh Grant win case against photo agencies ... Beyonce's fashion label comes under fire for ads ... A new image bookmarking site ... Bruce Davidson talks about shooting the civil rights movement ...

A Day At The Beach Costs Photo Agencies (AP via International Herald Tribune)
Liz Hurley, her husband Arun Nayar and her ex Hugh Grant are about to make a generous donation to a cancer charity, thanks to a long lens shooter. On Thursday, Britain’s High Court ruled that The Big Pictures and Eliot Press Sarl agencies must pay the threesome a total of 58,000 pounds (about $113,000) because one of their photogs snapped pictures while the group vacationed in the Maldives in October.

Move Over, Miley (Washington Post / PDNPulse)
For some people, Annie Leibovitz’s backless portrait of Miley Cyrus is nothing compared to advertisements for Beyonce Knowles’ fashion label. The ads in question feature seven-year-old girls dressed to the nines and wearing makeup. The Jon Benet Ramsey comparisons have already begun, and people want to know what’s next: “Babies wearing gold metallic bikinis while five-year old boys throw Monopoly money on them?”, asks the blog PopGumbo.

FFFFOUND!: Favorite Pix From Around The Web (Shoot! The Blog)
Rachel Hulin has alerted us to FFFFOUND!, a site that lets users post and share images they’ve found on the Web. The site helps users recommend images based on taste. Of course, you could just visit Shoot! The Blog and check out Rachel’s tastes.

Shooting The ‘Road To Freedom’ (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
During the civil rights movement, photographer Bruce Davidson captured the people and conditions that spurred and carried out everything from the 1961 Freedom Rides to the 1965 Selma voting rights march. Davidson, whose images are currently on display in Atlanta, recently spoke with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Jim Auchmutey about living in fear and documenting the civil rights movement.