The Sacramento Bee has fired a longtime photographer who editors say broke newspaper policy by digitally altering photos.
In a letter to readers Saturday (http://bit.ly/AkeS4y), the Bee says Bryan Patrick manipulated a photo published in the newspaper last Sunday.
A reader emailed to say the photo of a snowy egret stealing a frog from a great egret looked altered. The Bee published a correction and apology.
The newspaper says a review of Patrick's work found a shadow removed and flowers inserted into a photo published online in September.
The Bee's ethics policy prohibits photos from being changed "in any way that alters the reality of the image."
The Bee is a member of The Associated Press, which has the same policy. The AP has protectively eliminated all of Patrick's photos from its photo archive.
Attempts to reach Patrick were unsuccessful.
