Reuters opts for JPEG over RAW images to cull distortion and speed up processing
International news agency Reuters has requested its photographers no longer submit RAW images, as the format provides greater latitude in post-production editing and can taking longer than the standard JPEG to process.
The RAW image format records a high quantity of visual data making photoshop editing all the more easier. However, this is one of the reasons it has been banned by the agency which now exclusively seeks the compressed (and less dynamic) JPEG instead.
The announcement also stems from a prominent ethics debate in the photo journalism industry around the arguement that substantial post-production of images distorts and dramatises its subject.
PetaPixel shared a Reuters email distributed to photographers: “I’d like to pass on a note of request to our freelance contributors due to a worldwide policy change. In future, please don’t send photos to Reuters that were processed from RAW or CR2 files.
“If you want to shoot raw images that’s fine, just take JPEGs at the same time. Only send us the photos that were originally JPEGs, with minimal processing (cropping, correcting levels, etc).”
A spokesperson for Reuters said: “As eyewitness accounts of events covered by dedicated and responsible journalists, Reuters Pictures must reflect reality.
“While we aim for photography of the highest aesthetic quality, our goal is not to artistically interpret the news.”
The decision, while ultimately lowering the quality of the images sent to the news organisation, will lessen the time it takes for images to travel from camera to consumer, more acclimatising the agency to the real-time nature of global events.