Australian TV Channel Slammed For Editing Female Politician's Photo

In yet another case of women politicians not being taken seriously, an Australian news channel had some explaining to do this week as they broadcasted augmented images of Member of Parliament Georgie Purcell. 9News Melbourne's uncalled-for behaviour was exposed by the Victorian Upper House politician who posted the edited image on X (Twitter) side-by-side with the original one. "Note the enlarged boobs and outfit to be made more revealing. Can't imagine this happening to a male MP," Purcell wrote. 

I endured a lot yesterday.

But having my body and outfit photoshopped by a media outlet was not on my bingo card.

Note the enlarged boobs and outfit to be made more revealing.

Can’t imagine this happening to a male MP.

What gives? pic.twitter.com/NhnkDRMidc

— Georgie Purcell (@georgievpurcell) January 29, 2024

The image shown on TV by 9News could be seen edited to appeal to the male gaze. Georgie Purcell is an Animal Justice Party MP for Northern Victoria and the youngest woman in the state's parliament. She reportedly worked odd jobs including pole dancing and 'topless' waitressing before stepping into politics. Even earlier, Purcell has spoken up about her past constantly being used against her to belittle and sexualise her.

9News Denies Editing The Photo

Georgie Purcell's photo was evidently augmented, as her breasts were enlarged and her midriff was exposed in a crop top and skirt, which was originally a dress. The sportive politician slammed 9News Melbourne for editing the photo and gave a cheeky reply saying, "Hot tip 9(News) I’ve got my whole stomach tattooed."

According to the news agency Agence France Presse, 9News Melbourne's director Hugh Nailon said that the channel's graphics department had sourced an online photo of the animal rights politician for a story on duck hunting."The image was resized to fit our specs. The automation by Photoshop created an image that was not consistent with the original," Nailson said, adding that they used US-based Adobe's software for editing.

Adobe disagreed with the explanation. A spokesperson for the firm told AFP, "Any changes to this image would have required human intervention and approval." Purcell said that 9News sent her an apology to which she responded, "This is not just some random person on the internet. This is an organisation with a lot of staff and a lot of resources that frankly should know better."