Peter Rhodes on dodgy snaps, a big breakfast and do gentleman prefer blondes?
A headline from the Sunday Express should be cut out and hung on newsroom walls everywhere as a terrible reminder of the oldest commandment in journalism: never assume anything.
The Express's first-edition take on Kate's contentious Mothers' Day snap was: “Charming photo that proves she's on the mend.” As we should all know by now, photos prove nothing at all.
You must have seen the TV ads for the latest Google Pixel smartphones which use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to alter people's expressions in photographs. This generation of cameras can adapt images before even posting them. If you ever wondered why one of your friends always has photos of wildly-grinning chums, with nobody blinking or scowling, now you know. And in this age of deep fakery, even video and social media don't prove much either.
