A Victorian MP has slammed a “photoshopped” image of her used by Nine News, that she says made her outfit more “revealing” and “enlarged” her breasts.
The image of Animal Justice Party MP Georgie Purcell aired during Monday night’s Nine News Melbourne bulletin as part of a story about duck hunting.
After the story aired, Purcell took to social media to say the image used of her was different to the original photo.
Watch the latest news and stream for free on 7plus >>
“I endured a lot yesterday. But having my body and outfit photoshopped by a media outlet was not on my bingo card,” she wrote.
“Note the enlarged boobs and outfit to be made more revealing.
“Can’t imagine this happening to a male MP. What gives?”
In a second tweet, Purcell pointed out her stomach has been tattooed since 2020 and the photoshopped image did not show any tattoos, despite her outfit being changed to show her midriff.
On Tuesday, a statement was issued from Nine News Melbourne news director Hugh Nailon apologising for the “graphic error”.
“Our graphics department sourced an online image of Georgie to use in our story on duck hunting,” he said.
“As is common practice, the image was resized to fit our specs. During that process, the automation by Photoshop created an image that was not consistent with the original.
“This did not meet the high editorial standards we have and for that we apologise to Ms Purcell unreservedly.”
Purcell said she only realised she had been photoshopped when she watched Nine’s bulletin on Monday night.
“I noticed because my stomach didn’t have a tattoo on it. So I found the original photo and noticed not only had they given me abs and the crop top, but they’ve enlarged my breasts as well,” Purcell told 7NEWS.
“Seeing your own body altered on TV on the big screen is very confronting and I hope lessons are learnt from it.
“This has affected me in some way and it could affect other women even more and it should never happen again.”
Purcell said she did “not want heads to roll” and was comfortable with the apology issued, but hoped it served as a broader message.
Earlier on Tuesday, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan was asked about the photo at a press conference and said while she had only briefly glanced at it, she was “really concerned” to hear what had happened.
“That’s no way to represent any woman, let alone a woman who holds a position in public office, represents a community and is in the public discourse every single day.
“Let’s think about the message that sends, particularly to young women.
“The distorted images that women see day after day … We know this is a contributing factor to anxiety and mental health challenges amongst young woman and young men.”