Editor’s Note: Rappler apologizes to photographer Nana Buxani

We were alerted Friday, February 2, about a photo taken by Nana Buxani which was used for a Rappler intern’s story in August 2015 and which was not properly credited to her. (READ: Local solutions proposed for global environmental problems)

We apologize for this, and would like to assure Ms Buxani and other freelancers that we respect and value their work. We do not, and will not, intentionally claim as ours the work of others. Any inadvertent mistake, such as this, we immediately correct when brought to our attention. The freelancers who have worked with us will attest to this.

The article in question was published months after we did an interview with Ms Buxani in March 2015, where that photo was among those used to show samples of her work. (READ: Film, photography: Not just a man’s game)

The same photo appears to have been put in our system without the correct description and usual credits to the photographer, and thus was mistakenly tagged as Rappler’s instead of Ms Buxani’s. This was a major lapse on the part of the person/s who handled the story. 

Again, we profusely apologize for the lapse. We have privately reached out to Ms Buxani to express regret over this incident, and offered to pay her for the photo. 

In the meantime, we have taken down the photo and replaced it with an image from Agence France-Presse. We will take steps to tighten workflow systems that can prevent this from happening again. – Rappler.com