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January 14, 2018

AFP Last To Correct Its Own Arabic Mistranslation

BBC and The Guardian, clients of Agence France Presse photo service, along with Getty Images, a distribution partner of AFP, have all corrected an AFP photo caption which mistranslated an Arabic sign about the boycott of Israeli good. Only AFP has failed to answer CAMERA's call to correct.

Though the inaccurate captions in question date to 2015, last week they again appeared on numerous news sites due to the Israeli Strategic Affairs Ministry publication of a list of 20 BDS organizations whose key activists will be denied entry into Israel. The captions wrongly state that the pictured sign is "calling to boycott Israeli products coming from Jewish settlements." In fact, the Arabic writing on that sign makes no reference whatsoever to a selective boycott of "Israeli products coming from Jewish settlements." The sign actually states: "Boycott your occupation...support your country's produce."

Moreover, the sign is credited to "the national campaign for boycott of the occupation and its goods" along with two other groups.

A tourist photographs a sign painted on a wall in the West Bank biblical town of Bethlehem on June 5, 2015, calling to boycott Israeli products coming from Jewish settlements. The international BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) campaign, that pushes for a ban on Israeli products, aims to exert political and economic pressure over Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories in a bid to repeat the success of the campaign which ended apartheid in South Africa. AFP PHOTO / THOMAS COEX Palestinians walk past a sign painted on a wall in the West Bank biblical town of Bethlehem on June 5, 2015, calling to boycott Israeli products coming from Jewish settlements. The international BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions) campaign, that pushes for a ban on Israeli products, aims to exert political and economic pressure over Israel's occupation of the Palestinian territories in a bid to repeat the success of the campaign which ended apartheid in South Africa. AFP PHOTO / THOMAS COEX

In response to communication from CAMERA's BBC Watch, BBC commendably corrected the caption on its site, which now accurately says the sign is "calling for a boycott of Israeli products."

Also as a result of BBC Watch's communication, Getty Images, which is a distribution partner with AFP, also amended its caption to accurately refers to a "boycott of Israeli boycotts."

In addition, in response to communication from CAMERA's UK Media Watch, The Guardian also corrected the AFP caption which it had used. The Guardian also commendably appended a note alerting readers that on January 12 "the picture caption which contained a mistranslation" was amended.

Only AFP has failed to correct its own caption in violation of the news agency's Editorial Standards and Best Practices, which states:

Particular vigilance is needed during translation and proofreading of graphics, with regard to both the text and graphic elements. Good proof reading comprises three phases: the coherence and general relevance of the graphic, the text content (form and shape, spelling, font,) and the graphic content (accuracy, choice of colours).

Posted by TS at January 14, 2018 06:27 AM

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