The Boston Globe's catching heat today after running a photo Wednesday of Iraqi prison abuse they apparently got from a couple of activists. The photo was not only "overly graphic" and fake, it also turned out to be, um, porn.

"This photo should not have appeared in the Globe,'' editor Martin Baron said in a statement. "First, images portrayed in the photo were overly graphic. Second, as the story clearly pointed out, those images were never authenticated as photos of prisoner abuse. There was a lapse in judgment and procedures, and we apologize for it.''

Conservative news site WorldNetDaily reported last week that the photos came from American and Hungarian porn sites. Today WND is unhappy that the Globe's editor's note fails to mention the porn connection even though "WND revealed the true source of the photos at the request of the Globe via e-mail."

The Boston Phoenix's Dan Kennedy notes that the editor's note says "the photograph was reduced in size between editions to obscure visibility of the images on display" and responds:

In other words, at some point editors realized the pictures that Turner and Kambon were showing off were too graphic to be published - but rather than remove the photo altogether, they simply shrunk it down and hoped no one would notice.

In a later post, Kennedy quotes a retired Marine:

A casual glance at the photos shows out-of-date and mismatched uniforms, improperly worn, wrong color t-shirt and boots, and lack of unit patches. Even without knowing about the porn site, there is no way this should have stood for a minute.

And Kennedy takes the Globe to task for its credulity:

Yes, reporter Donovan Slack's story was properly skeptical, but if either she or her editors had known that the photos had already been identified as having come from commercial porn sites, this never would have seen the light of day. Those who hadn't been following the tale of the fake rape photos on the Internet would have had to buy today's Herald to find out the whole story.

Lesson No. 5,067 on why you should be suspicious about photos (or anything else) that comes from people with an agenda. Also, you might want to check with someone before you put porn in the paper.

Update: Globe ombud Christine Chinlund tells E&P she will address the issue in her Monday column.

"If the Globe had followed its procedures, which include a wide review of photos that are of a sensitive nature, this would not have happened," Chinlund told E&P Thursday. "I will not attempt to defend the Globe because it was clearly an error that deserved an apology."

>Globe caught with pants down: Paper duped into running porn photos [Boston Herald (thanks, Tim!)]
>Globe page image [Drudge Report]
>Bogus GI rape photos used as Arab propaganda [WorldNetDaily]
>Globe publishes apology for fake 'GI rape' photos [WorldNetDaily]
>They knew. But they printed it anyway [Media Log]
>The fallout continues [Media Log]
>Editor's Note [Boston Globe]
>'Boston Globe' Ombud on Sex Photo Mistake [Editor & Publisher]