fauxtography

Meaning

Noun

• Misleading presentation of images for propagandistic or otherwise ulterior purposes, involving staging, deceptive modification, and/or the addition or omission of significant context.

Origin

• Coined by webloggers around the time of the July 2006 Israel–Hezbollah War in Lebanon in criticism of the manipulated images of the conflict published by journalistic outlets: blend of faux and photography; compare fauxtograph. (This term is attested prior to July 2006, chiefly in use for company names, without an established meaning, and probably coined independently.)