Office of the Director of National Intelligence photoshops a woman in a wheelchair and a blind man with a guide dog onto the cover of its DIVERSITY report
- The cover of ODNI’s annual demographics report, which was released on Thursday, features the photoshopped image of well-dressed professionals
- ODNI has come under fire after it emerged the department had used a stock image for the cover and then edited it to include two people with disabilities
- The original image, which is available for download on stock image company Shutterstock, shows 15 people with a range of different ethnicities
- Twitter users were quick to point out that two other stock images, which are also available on Shutterstock, were then edited onto the ODNI’s report
- The first photo shows a woman in a wheelchair and the second features a blind man with a cane and guide dog
- DailyMail.com has contacted ODNI regarding the images
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has come under fire for photoshopping images of a woman in a wheelchair and a blind man with a guide dog onto a stock photo for the cover of its latest demographics report about diversity.
The cover of ODNI’s report, which was released on Thursday, features an image of well-dressed professionals and includes a description saying: ‘Hiring and retention of minorities, women and persons with disabilities in the United States intelligence community’.
ODNI, however, has since been accused of faking its diversity after it emerged the department had used a stock image for the cover and then edited it to include two people with disabilities.
The original image, which is available for download on stock image company Shutterstock, shows 15 people with a range of different ethnicities posing alongside each other.
REPORT COVER: The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has come under fire for photoshopping images of a woman in a wheelchair and a blind man with a guide dog onto a stock photo for the cover of its demographics report released on Thursday
ORIGINAL IMAGE: The original image, which is available for download on stock image company Shutterstock, shows 15 people with a range of different ethnicities posing alongside each other
That photo on Shutterstock includes the description: ‘Portrait Of Multi-Cultural Office Staff Standing In Lobby’.
But Twitter users were quick to point out that two other stock images, which are also available on Shutterstock, were then edited onto the ODNI’s report.
The first photo shows a woman in a wheelchair and the description on the stock image’s site reads: ‘Beautiful businesswoman with tablet computer in wheelchair on white background’.
The second photo that was edited onto the report features a blind man with a cane and guide dog.
When that image was used on the cover of ODNI’s report, the color of the man’s beige suit had been changed to black.
DailyMail.com has contacted ODNI regarding the images.
When the ODNI released the report, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines issued a statement that reflected the intelligence community’s diversity.
‘The intelligence community should reflect the diverse makeup of America and demonstrate that we are fostering an environment where every professional can succeed,’ Haines said.
ORIGINAL IMAGES: Two other stock images, which are also available on Shutterstock, were edited onto the ODNI’s report, including a woman in a wheelchair and a blind man with a guide dog
When the ODNI released the report, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines issued this statement that reflected the intelligence community’s diversity
‘Promoting diversity, equity and inclusion is fundamental to our democratic values and critical to meeting the IC’s mission.
‘This take work every single day. We are committed to doing more to address this critical issue and accelerate our progress.’
The annual report was prepared by the office’s Intelligence Community Diversity, Equity and Inclusion department.
Twitter users were quick to slam the ODNI over the edited images.
‘The worst using of photoshop for the year: For the cover of its diversity report, ODNI bought a stock photo called ‘Portrait of multi-cultural office staff standing in lobby’ and then photoshopped a woman in a wheelchair and a blind guy into it,’ one Twitter user wrote.
Another said: ‘I can bet anything they have ‘our organization is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate based on race, gender…’ written somewhere on their website/in their report.’
‘Diversity only exists in stock photos. Individual hiring managers hire clones of themselves,’ one person tweeted.
