Breaking News: A Boy Calmly Jogs In Front of a Burning Tire!

I saw this picture in a local newspaper the other day, and it annoyed me:

The caption: A Palestinian boy runs in front of burning tyres at the entrance of the Bedawi Palestinian refugee camp in north Lebanon. Islamist guerrillas who have been locked in three days of ferocious gunbattles with Lebanese troops said they would observe a unilateral ceasefire amid mounting concern over civilians caught up in the conflict. Photo:Joseph Barrak/AFP

Of course, this has nothing to do with Israel, but it does have to do with the phenomenon of staged photos. The expression on this kid's face is utter calm, and the other kid in the photo is smiling and approaching the fire.

Another example of this type of staged scene, of a child running past a burning tire, is here:

A young Palestinian boy runs past a burning tire set alight during a march by Fatah militants, not seen, towards the Council of Ministers building in the West Bank town of Ramallah, Sunday, Oct. 1, 2006. Dozens of supporters from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah Party ransacked and torched the Council of Ministers building in Ramallah after marching in protest after Hamas militias broke a demonstration in Gaza clashing with Palestinian police loyal to Fatah Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. (AP Photo/Muhammed Muheisen)

This one also looks staged.

And here's another:

Photos supposedly do not lie, but of course they do when they are staged. And the fact that a child happened to be calmly jogging past a burning tire, perhaps instructed to do so by a photographer, does nothing to inform us about the situation. Of course, since it has more action in it, is is perhaps easier to sell to the news agencies.