Abdel-Monem Said, chairman of al-Ahram, the leading pro-government newspaper in Egypt, has issued a statement headed: "The Ahram 'photo' and the Western media's reaction".

This is in response to criticism of the doctored photograph which purported to show President Mubarak striding through the White House ahead of Barack Obama and others at the recent peace talks.

The chairman's statement rambles on through 11 points, some of them amounting to a semi-justification (there were various clues such as "salient points" in bold type which apparently might have indicated to readers that this was not an original news photograph, etc, etc).

The resulting furore over the picture was not al-Ahram's fault, according to Dr Moneim, but was due to the (western) media's "thirst for sensation" and "a campaign of vilification against al-Ahram". 

He ends by acknowledging that there is "a great deal that needs to be done" to put al-Ahram in order but that this will be "a long and arduous undertaking".

In fact, it was not the western media but a sharp-eyed Egyptian blogger who started the story rolling, and the paper continues to be ridiculed by ordinary Egyptians (here and here).

Someone should tell Dr Moneim that his statement is a classic example of what not to do in this kind of situation: don't mess about with feeble defences – just come clean and say you are sorry.

Instructing staff not to mislead leaders with doctored photographs in future is scarcely "a long and arduous undertaking".

Posted by Brian Whitaker, 24 September 2010.