The photographer was a freelancer, so it's possible that he wasn't familiar with the AP's guidelines. That said, not manipulating images is the first thing tha

The photographer was a freelancer, so it's possible that he wasn't familiar with the AP's guidelines. That said, not manipulating images is the first thing that gets drilled into you as a photojournalist (either in school, or when you start doing assignments), so it's pretty unusual for someone to not realize the importance. A lot of photo agencies require submission of the RAW files specifically to combat this sort of thing.