Gary Knight, Convisero mentor and whose organization VII Foundation I serve as an advisor to, was recently featured in this article on the investigation of “Napalm Girl” photo being credited to the wrong journalist.
Executive director Gary Knight, a photojournalist who led the film's investigation, told AFP it was "critical" that members of the news media "hold ourselves to account."
"The photograph in question is one of the most important photographs of anything ever made, certainly of war," he said.
Over the past two years, Gary has been working with a team of journalists at The VII Foundation and in Vietnam on an investigation into the veracity of the authorship of one of the most iconic images of the 20th century, or indeed, of any century. That investigation was documented by the Vietnamese American film director Bao Nguyen.
What VII Foundation uncovered speaks to the heart of what is most important in photography. The film grapples with questions of authorship, racial injustice, and journalistic ethics while shining a light on the fundamental yet often unrecognized contributions of local freelancers who provide the information needed to understand how events worldwide impact us all.
Gary says the following in a VII Foundation article on the matter:
This is a story that many people in our profession did not want told, and some of them continue to go to great lengths to make sure it isn't told. But regardless of the passage of time and however inconvenient it might be, nothing should stall the pursuit of truth in journalism because we are obliged to hold ourselves to account if we seek to hold everyone else to account. There is an old adage that journalism is 'the first draft of history'; sometimes it takes a second draft to set the record straight.
As one of the legendary Vietnamese journalists we spoke to told us: ‘There's nothing more important than the truth. When the truth is disregarded, that's when society becomes corrupted. (The truth) cannot be twisted, or torn apart, because if so, it's no longer the truth and we will have lost our moral compass.’
The Stringer premiered January 2025 at the Sundance Film Festival. Please watch this space for further information on theinvestigation and the film itself.