{
  "id": 18480125,
  "title": "Free Press journalist unashamedly admits she \"sharpened\" anti-El-Sayed photo with ChatGPT",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/05/free-press-journalist-unashamedly-admits-she-sharpened-anti-el-sayed",
  "topic": "ai",
  "section": "AI",
  "published": "2026-11-05T22:52:57.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The A.V. Club",
    "slug": "the-a-v-club",
    "url": "https://www.avclub.com/free-press-journalist-sharpened-anti-el-sayed-photo-chatgpt-reingold"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In an era where the task of discerning fact from fiction is constantly challenged, the role of journalists has become increasingly crucial. The primary responsibility of a journalist remains to report on events accurately, or to manipulate an image if necessary, to add a political edge. This was the case for Olivia Reingold, a Free Press journalist, who recently admitted to using ChatGPT to enhance a photo she posted on Twitter during a Michigan campaign event. The image showed a woman wearing designer accessories, leading Reingold to assert that the woman represented the type of person who attended El-Sayed's election night event. However, Reingold later admitted that the photo was not of a real person, as she had fed the original image through ChatGPT to improve its visual quality. She claimed that the enhanced image still depicted a woman wearing Valentino shoes and a Chanel bag, and that the observation held true. However, using AI to manipulate an image in this manner is not a legitimate editing technique, as it introduces new details and deviates from reality. As image manipulation technology becomes more prevalent, the problem of misleading visuals will likely worsen, posing a significant challenge for journalists in the future. In the short term, this incident serves as a reminder that a picture may not always be worth a thousand words, especially when it contains misleading information.",
  "summary": "Free Press journalist unashamedly admits she \"sharpened\" anti-El-Sayed photo with ChatGPT.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}