Steven Frischling's Unbelievable Political Lies!

You asked for more stories, you got 'em. 

Thank you very, very much to a FishFraud MVP/future Pulitzer Prize winner who sent in the following incredible research exposing travel blogger Steven Frischling's lies of covering national politics as a photojournalist.

STEVEN FRISCHLING AND POLITICS

Frischling has gone on and on about how he is a seasoned political photographer. Thanks to some help from my friends, we've assembled a huge list of his tales. But first, let me explain how a few things work in the realm of covering politics, especially when traveling with campaigning presidential candidates as well as the press pool that covers the president and vice president. This will help in understanding how he is lying about a lot of the tales we found.

THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS POOL

The White House press pool for still photographers consists of AP, AFP, Reuters, a rotating "agency" pool and a magazine/newspaper slot (currently held by the New York Times). AP, AFP and Reuters and NYT travel with the president everywhere and are considered the "tight pool". They travel on Air Force One, in motorcades and are always with the president when he has any movement. The agency pool only travels in presidential motorcades when the president has movements within close proximity to the White House. The agency pool rotates between (I believe) eight agencies and commits a photographer from each agency to three days a month covering the White House. Photographers in the agency pool DO NOT (except on rare occasions) travel on Air Force One.  The traveling press pool pays a hefty price to travel on AF1 and in motorcades with the president with an annual price tag of about a million dollars per agency. If other press does for some reason pay to go on of the president's overseas trips, they do not fly on AF1 but instead are put on a charter.

When the president has an event (like a speech at a college) local press covering the event must submit a request for credential and vital info (like date of birth, social security) days prior to the event for a background check. Everyone who covers a presidential visit will be given a White House press pool pass. They are typically different colors at each event and have a Secret Service sticker attached to it with a number. There are two kinds of these passes, a PL and an L. PL is for pool, which would allow you to temporarily join the traveling press pool in the area called the buffer at the front of the stage or to tag along if the president is touring a facility. The PL passes are given to photographers from the local newspaper and often wire services that aren't in the traveling pool. The L pass is for local press and it gets you a spot on a riser with limited (if any) mobility. I have attached a photo of these passes. I bring this up because Frischling claims in one of the following posts that he has several dozen of these that he apparently wears on his neck as if he were part of the White House press pool. Like I said, everyone who has covered a presidential visit has one of these passes. They mean nothing once the event is over.

PRESIDENTIAL CAMPAIGNS

I spoke with a few photographers who traveled extensively with candidates in 2004 and in 2008. When I say traveling, these guys and gals were out for weeks at a time on the candidates planes, motorcades and hotels. I asked if they had ever seen Frisching on a campaign plane. They did not. I asked if they had seen him at Howard Dean's event where he dropped out of the race. They had not. On the Kerry campaign? Nope.

The only coverage I have ever seen of political nature by Frischling is a day he spent with Ralph Nader in 2004, a few days (3 or 4 tops) he spent with Howard Dean at the start of his presidential bid in 2003 (where he had one on one coverage of him riding in a car and talking with aides), three or four days covering Dean on a bus tour through New Hampshire in 2004, a couple events here and there including a debate and election night in Boston covering John Kerry (not as a member of the traveling press.) There was also some Nader event that he covered during the 2000 cycle.

Presidential campaigns are expensive if you are traveling on the plane. Freelancers don't travel on the plane since it can cost between $2,000 and $5,000 (or more) a day depending on how much flying is done. You pay for everything, food, the flight, hotel, press files, food, you name it. Since the amount changes each day based on how many people are traveling, the campaigns always bill out the fees, never ask for money up front. Bus tours are usually more accessible to freelancers and smaller low budget agencies and generally only occur in the early stages of a campaign (like Iowa and New Hampshire).

When Dean was traveling through New Hampshire, the bus fee was probably in the neighborhood of 50 to 100 bucks a day. The buses are usually pretty easy to get on and most photographers avoid them since they usually have to cover multiple candidates in a single day during the Iowa Caucuses and the New Hampshire primary. The bus works for those who are assigned to a single candidate. So, technically, you're not actually "traveling" with the candidate and you're not in any "pool," you're essentially getting a ride to their events and they drop you off at the candidate's headquarters at the end of the day.

The pool for presidential campaigns is usually established once it is determined who the official candidate is (at the party convention) as this is when the candidate gets immediate Secret Service protection – which means police escorted motorcades, tighter restrictions at campaign events for local press and credentials issued to the traveling press by the Secret Service. Like the presidential pool PL passes, select local media would be allowed to join the traveling pool at events for a limited time. Like the White House press pool, the campaign pool runs in a similar fashion with some expansion. It is still AP, AFP and Reuters with other regularly traveling agencies. It does change from time to time, but only in tight situations and then it reverts back to White House rules.

Now let's continue to the stories Frischling has spread about his supposed up-close-and-personal political access...

Part A: The Frischling Fantasies

A) 12/5/07 Digital Wedding Forum –
"While was a full time photojournalist for more than a decade shooting everything from small town weekly council meetings to the war in Iraq and a rural highschool's home coming election to traveling with multiple major presidential candidates in their pool."

B) 11/24/07 Digital Wedding Forum –
"I am sure I'd clear the background check. I have been part of the White House Pool traveling with the President, and Presidential Candidates"

C) Flyertalk – 5/13/08  - http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-safety-security/737272-benefit-clear-2.html#post9717204
"I have had my background checked and rechecked while being credentialed as a news photographer covering the United Nations, having been a member of the US House & Senate Press Photographer's Gallery, having traveled 1-on-1 with presidential candidates and traveled in the White House photo pool, as well as having been an embedded journalist in Iraq and having covered "homeland security"

D) 10/4/07 Digital Wedding Forum 
"My F5xb has been great for weddings, the majority of my weddings, as well as multiple trips to Iraq, shooting in four countries , on two continents and one sub-continent chain of islands in a single day (well really more than a day, but the international date line flips you back a day) , two years of covering presidential campaigns heavily on the road (2000 & 2004) and lots of less exciting every day shoots."

E) 11/24/07 Digital Wedding Forum
"Before the Newswear Pouches I used the Domke pouches that I have a dozen of. This set up is used with two bodies (again at times, rarely, 1 body) and I have take this kit on the road for weeks with political talking heads running for office, been to probably two dozen riots, Iraq, and a whole lot of weddings."

F) 9/16/07 Digital Wedding Forum 
"Two of the bodies have survived multiple assignments in Iraq, all have enjoyed stints at the Final Four, World Series, Presidential pool gigs, etc.........so why would I trade them in? They do a good job and do the same job they did five/four years ago."

G) 11/7/06 Digital Wedding Forum
"you can't spend 14 days in a car with a Presidential Hopeful before the real massive campaigning kicks off and never speak to them, it is just not possible."

H) 8/24/07 Digital Wedding Forum
"Years of shooting perp-walks in NYC as a wire shooter, covering national and international politics in a press pool, countless court assignments, post-game scrums on the field......all make Uncle Bob easy to work around."

I) 2/19/08 Digital Wedding Forum
"Maybe it is a news thing, but I have done countless 16+hr days shooting news. During the "political season" I could do back to back to back to back 16 hours days bouncing between New Hampshire and Iowa, shoot for 16hrs, get on a plane for a few hours, sleep 2hrs, up for 16hrs, then do it all over again. This could go on for 2 weeks"

J) 11/24/07 Digital Wedding Forum
"I have used this set up for days and weeks on the road shooting political candidates, floating around the world in a week , countless NFL and NCAA football games and a bunch of weddings..."

K) 8/28/07 Digital Wedding Forum
"I have been an agency contract photog traveling with political candidates trying to make unique images daily of the same person doing the same person every day. I have worked for wire services shooting riots and covered war..."

L) 5/2/06 Digital Wedding Forum
"Shooting for 12 to 14hrs is easy. You just get into a good frame of mind and do your job. Journalism was great practice for weddings, traveling in press pools covering political campaigns, the Olympics, riots, a being out on patrols in Iraq."

M) 2/8/07 Digital Wedding Forum
"oh yea, "My Boss" is also glad I no longer cover politics, where I am on the road for at times a few weeks or being shipped off to WTO and G8 riots with some frequency no more showing up before the hurricane and staying until the hurricane has left and no more trips to a hot desert with things being fired at me or items exploding near me."

N) 9/1/07 Sports Shooter http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=26249
"...and as for politics.....we'll get into that when you ask.....but the traveling press pool is tight and VERY EXPENSIVE , which is why few freelancers do it. When I have done it my client paid all expenses up front with the campaigns I traveled with (and the agency I was shooting for was owned by Bill Gates, so they had the funds, I didn't)."

O) 7/27/09 Sports Shooter http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=33647
"I've been assigned to be the 1-on-1 documentary photog shooting George HW Bush & Bono, but while I had great access I didn't get to know my subjects. I've photographed two sitting presidents; traveled with two candidates in the final stages of their presidential campaigns; photographed the Pope; The Manning Brothers; countless heads of state at the U.N.; etc etc etc...but so what? I didn't get to know my subjects in any way ."

P) 2/7/04 sports shooter  http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=7350
"Photogs are not necessarily dumping digital on the campaign trail. Jeff Jacobson obviously shot all film, but he followed Dean for a few days while Callie Shell was away, Shell shot a mix of film and digital (although I only saw her with a 28-70 on her EOS 1D for the three days I was on the Dean bus with her, while Jacobson shot only film for the two days he was on the bus). "

Q) 10/1/07 sports shooter http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=26651
"I have had m bodies since early 2003 and they have shot countless pro football and baseball games, heavily covered political campaign season, been to the middle east a few times, done a bunch of NCAA basketball games and 40+ weddings since early 2003 and the bodies average 1.3mil frame clicks."

R) 10/21/08 sports shooter  http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=31074
"Back in '04 I stood on the risers on Boston until well after 1:00am and John Kerry was a no-show. "

S) 10/10/07 Digital Wedding Forum
"I have had problems with the Secret Service shooting a "corporate portrait" of a U.S. Congressman in front of The White House, no lights, no tripod, no light stands, just me, two cameras, a waist pack and a US Congressman. This was in late 2005. Keep in mind that I was pulled aside, with the Congressmen, while in possesion of, and displaying, my credentials from the U.S. House & Senate The Dept of Defense, the United Nations, the NYPD, Mass. State Police and about two dozen "White House Pool" credentials (both "N" and "L" credentials) from White House events........still took 15-20 min to sort it out.....WITH A CONGRESSMAN!."

Part 2: The Reality

A. Multiple major presidential candidate pools? Who would that be? Dean and Nader don't really count.

B. As I mentioned before, AP, AFP, Reuters and Magazine/newspaper pool plus the agency pool are the only photographers who travel with the president in town. It is possible, but highly unlikely, that he was fulfilling an agency pool spot at the White House for UPI, which would put him in a motorcade and would technically be traveling in the pool. I have never seen a single photo to support this.

C. Again, unless for some bizarre fluke that he was assigned to sit in the agency pool for three days at the White House (extremely unlikely) he has not "traveled" with the pool.

D. Says in the 2000 and 2004 election cycles he was heavily on the road with campaigns. I have not ever seen one photo of Al Gore or George Bush campaigning from 2000 and the extent of his 2004 coverage can be seen here. http://www.upi.com/search/?sp=t&s_l=photos&ss=%22steven+frischling%22&offset=1 And here by searching frischling dean http://worldpicturenews.com/web/IndexPageLightbox.aspx?driverid=9296 And here (which by the way appears that he double dipped by giving pictures from the same event to Bloomberg and UPI – competing wire services) http://www.gettyimages.com/Search/Search.aspx?contractUrl=2&language=en-US&family=editorial&assetType=image&p=steven+frischling+dean

E. Claims to have traveled with candidates for weeks at a time but no wire photographer who has traveled for weeks at a time has ever seen him.

F. States that he has done presidential pool gigs between 2002 and 2007 but has never mentioned this on any other message board and there are no photos to support this other than two times that he shot George Bush at local events from a riser.

G. Says he has spent 14 days in a car with a presidential hopeful before major campaigning commenced. He did spend a couple of days here and there following Howard Dean prior to him announcing that he was running but not 14 days. There is one photo on his site of Dean (under "faces") in a car mirror that was taken in 2003, although he has it captioned as if it was taken when he was the head of the DNC http://stevenfrischling.com/

H.  International press pool? HA

I. States that during the "political season" that he would bounce back and forth between Iowa and New Hampshire. When the Iowa caucuses are going on in Dec./Jan., all the candidates are either in Iowa or New Hampshire. They do Iowa and then New Hampshire, that's the election cycle. There is no real back and forth. Besides, I doubt he has ever been to Iowa.

J. Again stating that he has spent weeks on the road with candidates – pure fiction.

K. Saying that he was a representative of an agency covering a campaign "trying to make unique images daily of the same person doing the same person every day" whatever that means.

L. Still thinks he has traveled in a pool.

M. Says his "boss" a.k.a. Susannah, is happy that he isn't gone on campaigns for weeks at a time anymore. There is no evidence to suggest that he has ever traveled with a candidate for any length of time other than 3 days on a bus.

N. Says that his "client" an agency owned by Bill Gates (better known as Corbis) paid for his campaign travel up front. That never happens. Travel is never billed upfront only after, sometimes weeks or even months after the fact.

O. Traveled with TWO candidates in the last stages of their campaign. If this was between 2000 and 2004, that would have to be Gore, Bush or Kerry. He wasn't traveling with Kerry and I have never seen a single photo of Gore or Bush during the 2000 election.  He also says that he didn't get to know his subjects in any way, but earlier says that you can't be in a car for 14 days with a presidential candidate and not talk to him.

P. Establishes that he was on the Dean bus for three days, not weeks.

Q. Another mention of how heavily he covers politics but there is no photographic evidence to support this claim. It is safe to say that he has never experienced traveling with a candidate on a plane for weeks at a time, let alone once or twice.

R. Establishes that he was not "traveling" with Kerry on the final day of his campaign and there is no real evidence to support his claim that he has traveled with two presidential candidates on the final stages of their campaign unless he is referring to Ralph Nader who never really had a real presidential campaign.

S. This was in late 2005 when he was employed by CRN. There is no real reason why he would still have a valid US Senate pass or the extremely difficult to obtain Dept. of Defense pass. The DOD passes are almost always issued to journalists who cover the Pentagon FULL TIME. The U.N. pass, according to my boss, has to be renewed twice a year and requires a newspaper or wire service sponsor. The funniest thing is how he says he has about two-dozen old White House press passes from WH events on his lanyard. That is just retarded. First of all, has he actually covered 24 presidential events? Sure, it is possible, but if he has, it has been over his career and most of those passes would be about 10 years old. He covered Bush twice for Bloomberg since 2004. Second, why would anyone carry dozens of those around their neck like a trophy? That would be one huge mess of press passes to carry around. He'd look like a clown.  

Once again we challenge Steven Frischling... Where are the photos to back up these stories?
Are you such a terrible incompetent photographer that you didn't get a single usable image? 

Frischling Gets Court Date Postponed!

Giant winner Steven Frischling has moved his arraignment to 6/22/2011 at 10:00 AM.

On Wednesday morning he responded to @Lyingwithfish1 (who is not FishFraud by the way, though we do take credit for Lyingwithfish!) and claimed there is a "twist" in the investigation!

Could it be he needed to buy more time to pay for his bail? He's trying to unload some pricey photo equipment on Twitter and Sportsshooter.

And he can't keep his story straight as to why he's selling it - could he need money to flee the country?

But wait a second... he gives another reason for selling the lens in his classified on Sportsshooter (and again demonstrates he does not know the difference between "its" and "it's").

Meanwhile, when is the last time this guy actually had a photography job? How is he changing what he is shooting?

Happy Lying!

Travel Blogger Steven Frischling's Lies about TWA Flight 800

TWA Flight 800 exploded over the ocean after takeoff from JFK airport on July 17, 1996, killing all 230 people on board. "Travel blogger" Steven Frischling, living on Long Island at the time, took a photo outside a Coast Guard station that shows ambulances.

Frischling has since, in various forums over the past 15 years, exploited the tragedy of Flight 800 by describing scenes he could not possibly have seen and bragged about money he could not possibly have made from photos that could not possibly exist.

Prepare to be offended.

Only weeks after the accident, Frischling responds to a spammer on a newsgroup to brag he made more than $2,000 in six hours because 230 people died one night:

alt.journalism.photo: "Great CASH GAINS" (8/3/1996)

"6hrs at TWA Flight 800, I was the only non-related civilian on the US Coast Gaurd base, I made over $2,000 in 6 hrs........."

A few years later, that amount has climbed to $7,000+:

Sports Shooter: "Stringing for AP" (12/1/2003)

"The last assignment I really shot for the AP was in the morgue the night TWA Flight 800 crashed off Long Island. AP got it's five or six photos for $180 (x2 because of the time I invested, and access I was able to get without their help) plus miles, and I managed to get $7,000 from Newsweek for photos they never ran in their North American editions."

Contrast that to six years earlier, when he claimed he had banked nearly a year's salary that night, and also makes the absurd claim of being inside the makeshift morgue! First, it is doubtful the authorities would have allowed a photographer in that morgue, and if they had, don't you imagine that those photos would been seen all over the world?

NPPA-L: "Who Makes What...some actual numbers" (7/20/1997)

"then again I left a few days before TWA 800, was the only photog on thebase or in the morgue that night and made a little less that the yearly salary in one night..."

He repeats this claim about the morgue in 2008, and now brags he has been at "multiple plane crashes!"

FlyerTalk: "anyone ever been through an aborted takeoff/landing?" (5/14/2008)

"Having shot around multiple plane crashes in my news career, including being the pool photog in the make shift morgue for a 747 that blew up, I'm not keen on being on crashing planes. I'd rather shoot news than be news."

But being in the vicinity of a plane crash and making a fortune off it is not dramatic enough for Steven Frischling.  In 1999 he hijacked a thread about the Columbine school shooting in Littleton, Colo., to grab some attention for himself by overstating his connection to Flight 800. He admits to making "bad jokes about TWA 800" (he's all class!) but you must understand, he needs to make these jokes! Even three years later, it is all Frischling can do to get through each day after the hell he witnessed that night!

NPPA-L: "Littleton, Tornadoes, etc." (5/5/1999)

"I know I have made a number of bad jokes about TWA 800, but I also know that I never want to see my negatives again from the night the 747 crashed. Making jokes, seeming all confident and strong is what kept me and keeps me from falling down in a ball of tears."

What a sensitive soul.

He also claims a county detective ripped the film from his camera, and describes distraught Coast Guard "boys" standing over stacks of body bags!

NPPA-L: "seeking police contacts" (2/22/1998)

"I think most of us have faced this. While on the USCG base the night TWA Flight 800 crashed an over zealous Suffolk County Detective,who had no offical power, as he was ona federal military base, where I was a guest, ripped the film from my camera, he was escortd from the base, and the base X.O. filed a complaint against him."

NPPA-L: "to die for?" (9/29/1997)

"5 photos were taken durring actual rescues, including photos of USCG rescuers over a stack of body bags the night TWA 800 crashed just outside the morge, these men(boys really) are holding each other and holding in tears"

This guy is literally unbelievable.

Extra thoughts come from a commenter, who clearly knows a thing or two about news photography:

"If he was actually on an assignment for AP he would have not been able to sell his images to Newsweek for what he is describing as a high fee for first look (to get exclusive images in order to beat out the other news mags) AP would have owned his film.

If he was pool for the morgue his images would have appeared on all the wire services, but they do not.

If he had been INSIDE the morgue he would have had access to powerful images that would have surely run all over the place. I have never seen one.

There is ONE photo on the AP wire of the exterior of a coast guard station with ambulances parked in front. Nothing from inside. No dramatic photo of Coasties holding back tears as they stack body bags."

Another commenter:

"I have googled, binged and yahooed every possible variation of TWA flight 800 morgue as well as East Moriches Coast Guard TWA morgue and have come up with nothing other then a reporter who won a Pulitzer Prize for his story about the morgue following the crash of TWA 800. I looked on the AP wire, AFP and UPI - not a single pool picture of body bags stacked or anything from inside or outside a morgue on the night the plane crashed. The photos that Frischling describes would have ran EVERYWHERE and would still have a presence on the web. Weeping Coasties and body bags? Hell, a picture like that might have even been a contender for the Pulitzer. I think the real story is that he shot the outside of this building using direct flash and that was about it. Like I said, if he had been the pool photographer, all of those pictures would have been shared with all of the wire services and he wouldn't have made a dime on resales because the market would have been saturated with those photos since they would have been distributed by multiple outlets."

Do you find this offensive that anyone would exploit the deaths of 230 people in such a manner? Do you find it absurd that this giant tool still has a travel blog on BoardingArea.com? Meet Randy Petersen, the owner of BoardingArea and founder of FlyerTalk, who refuses to remove Frischling's blog despite being well informed about his actions. In fact, it would appear Randy Petersen even pays Steven Frischling a share of the money from the advertising on the site! (Do you think BoardingArea.com advertisers know what their ads are appearing next to?) By the way you can email Randy Petersen at randy@boardingarea.com to ask why he still keeps Frischling as one of his bloggers, whom he claims are all "hand selected" by his "team!"

Randy Petersen, BoardingArea.com founder

New York Times Photographer Destroys Frischling's Equipment!

An excellent reader emailed us to point us to the following story from 1996, in which Steven Frischling claims not one but two incidents in which New York Times photographers trashed his equipment!

alt.journalism.photo: did any body see jerk photog at Wash pro life march

FishFotoJr Jan 24 1996, 3:00 am

At certain events, a single news gathering organization will at times request the privilage of having a stand to themselves. At the trip of the Pope the NY Times and A.P. had there own stands. I put a lens down on the stand to change a lens, and the Times photog kicked it off the platform, I was pissed off!

Chances are in DC the stand was Time, NY Times, Wash Post, A.P. Reuter, or Sygma.

Steven E. Frischling
Freelance News Photographer
NYPD Working Press #0067
Too young to be respected; Too old to not be taken seriously; INVINCIBLE!;
Fear was just a word in the dictionary; Life was a right, not a gift;
Death was only a concept; STRENGTH!--Nikon F4s ad 1992

Frischling continues...

FishFotoJr Jan 25 1996, 3:00 am

The Times'r was a she, and I was very pissed because durring th Glenn Harris Christina Rosado (the teacher who ran off and tried to marry his student) events here in NYC a Times'r said to me, and I quote:

"When she comes out, what are you gong to do?" I said "Stand here and get my photos" He replied, "No, You are going to step aside and let me get my shots! I am from the Times!"

I was using an 18f3.5 to shoot against the car and an 85f1.8 to shoot her coming out, he had an 80-200 and 300 rather than getting up. He then got anf in in the press mess grabbed mty SB-24 and dropped it into a puddle, it was fried!

I like the guys at the Times, they are nice and their office people are great, but they need to learn that news reportage does not revolve around them, in NYC I would say it revolvs around the NY Post or NY Daily News (The picture paper)

Steven E. Frischling
Freelance News Photographer
NYPD Working Press #0067
Too young to be respected; Too old to not be taken seriously; INVINCIBLE!;
Fear was just a word in the dictionary; Life was a right, not a gift;
Death was only a concept; STRENGTH!--Nikon F4s ad 1992

After this insult to the New York Times, what do you think the odds are someone from the New York Times contacted him, challenged him on this story and demanded to know exactly who from the New York Times threw his SB-24 (flash) into the puddle? Fairly good odds, judging by his next post:

alt.journalism.photo: Retraction

FishFotoJr Jan 30 1996, 3:00 am

I would like to post a retraction to something I said happened at the Christina Rosado/Glenn Harris press mess, after speaking to someone at the NY Times I found out that the person who said that they were for the NY Times fits no description of anyone, staff, freelance, contract to the NY Times. With so many freelancers and contract news shooters in NYC I assumed that he was who he said he was, I should have verified if he was indeed an NY Times photographer.

I am sorry if this caused problems with anyone from the New York Times. My sincerest apologies for stating something that was not checked out.

Steven E. Frischling
Freelance News Photographer
NYPD Working Press #0067
Too young to be respected; Too old to not be taken seriously; INVINCIBLE!;
Fear was just a word in the dictionary; Life was a right, not a gift;
Death was only a concept; STRENGTH!--Nikon F4s ad 1992

Happy Lying!

Steven Frischling Was Shot... 9 Times!

Did this Kevlar helmet take a bullet for Frischling?

A faithful FishFraud fan just shared the following gem from the archives of the National Press Photographers Association listserv! While we had posted Steven Frischling's claim of being shot before, this goes into more exciting detail.

Not only is Frischling claiming he was shot on two separate occasions, he was apparently riddled with bullets!

It appears he is claiming he was shot with two bullets entering his body, while another time he had seven bullets enter his bullet-proof vest and Kevlar helmet! Yes, the kind of helmets soldiers wear in Iraq. He claims one shooting happened in "the projects" and another shooting "elsewhere" (possibly fantasy land).

Notably, it appears he posted this in the first place after being called out on his "I'm such a victim" attitude by a guy named Keith Morrison.

bit.listserv.nppa-l: Other Side Of The Lens/ K. Morrison

Steven Frischling, Aug. 11, 1998

>The attitude of 'poor little me' is more than just a but disturbing to me.

Keith,

I was not asking for sympathy, I called myself an idiot if you read the post (sort of eliminates the need for sympathy). I was speaking in the first person, sort of asking in the 3rd person (can one really write in the 2nd person with out writing a "choose your own adventure" ?)

I am just curious if anyone outside our profession gives a $#!+? Yes we as PhotoJs choose to be in these situations (and nice to mention EMTs/Medics , because on certain calls they have the right to try and pass the call to another unit, I know I did twice when on an ambulance), but with out images the general public usually has not a clue what happened, then again sometimes after the situation the general public does not have a clue what happened (like when a paper misses the story, even when they have photos, but no reporter) .

You are correct I had a lovely encpounter with a flying metal projective (twice in me, 7 times in a vest...all at once) while in the projects , another another time elsewhere. I knew my risks, which is why I own a bullet vest and a kevlar helmet, but that does not detract from the fears PJs have, dangers PJs face and risks we as a profession often put ourselves in. Take me out of the equalsion , because there are many more photogs that get injured more than I do, and walk into worse situations more often that I do....what about them? Do we as PJs give up our ability to be humans once we have a lens? I know we do on some level, because we choose to watch the world rather than "be in it" at times, but we are all still humans first.

I doubt any PJ got into the business for the "cool vests" , and I would like to believe that thse who got into this job because it is "cool" do not get to far, and fall back inthe pack. There are risks, some are good, some are bad. Some PJs walk away from the centre of teh storm,
and that is fine, most of te stories exist outside the centre or the storm, everyday life and death happens on the outside looking in, not in the core looking to the epi-centre.

I wonder if you missed the point Keith, not looking for "poor me" , or for "poor us", I am just curious if anyone on the outside looking in on our photos cares if we get home OK, even if just a passing thought.

Happy Hunting

Steven E. Frischling
News Photographer/News Photo Editor
In Search Of A Good Stress Managment Program
1(516)791-6114
1(800)225-0256 PIN# 56865
ste...@frischling.com
http://www.frischling.com/steven
-
-It's all about good and evil, life and death, so what do we do when the
demons start to win, and we slowly pray for death?

Nice signature quote.

So Steven Frischling, when and where did these shootings occur? Where are the scars that back up your claim of having had two bullets enter your body?

Quick quiz class! Exactly how many times was Steven Frischling shot by age 23?

Happy Lying!

Libya Releases NYT Journalists

Libya has released the four New York Times journalists being held, including stud photographers Tyler Hicks and Lynsey Addario!

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/22/world/africa/22times.html?_r=1

The four had been covering fighting near Ajdabiya when they decided that the battle had grown too dangerous for them to continue covering it safely. Their driver, however, inadvertently drove into a checkpoint manned by forces loyal to Colonel Qaddafi. By the time they knew they were in trouble, it was too late.

“I was yelling to the driver, ‘Keep driving! Don’t stop! Don’t stop!’ ” Mr. Hicks recalled in a telephone interview from the hotel where he and the three others were recuperating. “I knew that the consequences of being stopped would be very bad.”

The driver, Mohamed Shaglouf, is still missing. If he had tried to drive straight through, Mr. Hicks said, the vehicle certainly would have been fired on. In any event, the soldiers flung the doors to their gold four-door sedan wide open so quickly that they had little chance to get away.

Fantastic they made it out. Let's hope their driver is OK as well.

Steven Frischling on Ice, Part 2!

More ice please!

Remember Steven Frischling's two contradictory stories of the time he claims to have dropped a $5,000 lens from the catwalks of the Lake Placid hockey arena onto the ice below?

The story does not stop there. Two more versions have surfaced and the excitement continues.

In the version we posted earlier, Frischling claimed he was securing the camera to the rig when he was bumped by a photographer walking behind him on the catwalks ("a direct violation of working in the catwalks in Lake Placid"), causing Frischling to drop the camera with lens attached.

Apparently this was not "true." In the following version, the other photographer actually tampered with the getup so he could have that spot! (Does the Frischling victimization ever end?)

6/26/06- Digital Wedding Forum

"Dateline : 1994 - Lake Placid, New York

I was shooting NCAA Final Four Hockey when my remote camera, a Nikon F3hp w/MD-4, and brand new 300f2.8 AF (belonged to the wire service I was shooting for) was tampered with by another photog up in catwalks before the game (2hrs before game time) so he could get his camera into the same position. The whole rig went falling to the ice below.

My F3hp still works to this day (TTL flash, aperture priority and the frame counter are busted), it needed a new prisim, but the 300f2.8 was just totalled.

The other photog had his credentials yanked and luckily I had four bodies with me. Three to use on me, one for a remote."

In the "original" versions, Frischling claims the lens was insured but said "it was a $5,000+ loss" because he was "terrified to make that call." But in the June 2006 story, he claims he indeed made a "very hard" call to the "bureau chief" who had no problem at all that he destroyed the brand new lens they had supposedly shipped to Frischling, age 18!

"I was all of 18 years old and had to make a very hard phone call to the bureau chief and let him know that the brand new (I took it out of the box and the shipping trunk, no one else had touched it) 300f2.8 AF was totalled. Luckily his answer was "it's insured, we'll be fine.""

But wait, there is an even different version from six months earlier! In this case when he had claimed it fell not from the catwalk but from the scoreboard! (It is unknown if there was also tampering.)

11/21/05 - Digital Wedding Forum

"One of my F3 bodies fell from the score board of the Olympic Hockey Arena in Lake Placid, NY. I still use that camera today. Sure the TTL flash does not work (it never worked on the F3 bodies , even when new), the frame counter is stuck on "40" and you can't use aperture priority, and it needed a new prisim, but the camera in manual mode shoots 100%, the MD-4 still shoots ar full speed and my daughter can take it out to shoot and learn the basics (when she isn't using a 10D or 1D)."

Happy Lying!

Insurance Claim: Yet Another Outright Contradiction

We imagine Frischling wishes he had a "Delete all" button to erase his 15+ years of Internet posts. Here is yet another black-and-white contradiction.

This Sports Shooter post from 2003 shows Frischling offering advice on how to deal with a claim on broken camera equipment with Hays, the insurance carrier for the National Press Photographers Association. Apparently it's a snap! He had no problem after yet another incident of destroying his gear.

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=6451
12/25/03

"I never had my gear stolen, but I did fry a camera, lens, flash (N90s + grip, 80-200f2.8 AF-D, SB-26) while shooting in a blizzard. The moister got to be to much to fast, and when the body went it totaled the lens and flash as well. I contacted Hayes Insurance, I had the check for a new body, new grip, flash and lens in about 7 days. No questioned asked, they didn't
ask I send in the gear either, which I found odd. I contacted my repair guy who wrote up all the stuff as totaled due to water and that was it."

However... in 2007, Frischling is suddenly seeking advice from Sports Shooter members on how the claims process works when dealing with Hays. He says he "has not had any claims on gear!"

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=23719
2/10/07

"Has anyone here ever filed a claim with the NPPA/Hays Group for damaged equipment? What is the process? Do you ship the gear to the repair center, have it marked DOA and the ship it to them? I have not had any claims on gear but am curious about the process if for some reason (knock on wood) I have a Chevy Chase moment and fall down a set of stairs with my gear on my shoulders."

So Steven, how do you explain these two contradictory stories? You claim you had several thousand dollars of equipment destroyed by the "moister" in a blizzard that was promptly taken care of by Hays, "no questioned asked."

Yet a few years later, all this never happened, you have never had any claims, and have no idea how the process works.

Which is it?

Happy Lying!

NYT Photographer Tyler Hicks Missing in Libya

Remember the photographer whose amazing photos from Libya we shared a few days ago?

Tyler Hicks is now missing in Libya with three other New York Times journalists.

http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/16/four-new-york-times-journalists-are-missing-in-libya/

The missing journalists are Anthony Shadid, the Beirut bureau chief and twice winner of the Pulitzer Prize for foreign reporting; Stephen Farrell, a reporter and videographer who was kidnapped by the Taliban in 2009 and rescued by British commandos; and two photographers, Tyler Hicks and Lynsey Addario, who have worked extensively in the Middle East and Africa. 

Mr. Keller said there was some speculation that they had been detained at a government checkpoint between Ajdabiya and Benghazi, a rebel stronghold in eastern Libya. If that is the case, he said, they would eventually be taken to Tripoli. “Beyond that, we’re still pretty much in the dark,” he added. 

The uprisings in the Arab world have made the region a perilous place for journalists. During the revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, journalists were assaulted, accosted, detained and killed. Two Times reporters were detained there and eventually released unharmed. Lara Logan of CBS News was sexually assaulted by a group of men. An Egyptian reporter was shot and died.

There are photographers who actually do put their lives on the line to bring the world photos that need to be seen. Please send out your strongest vibes that all four will return home safe.

This Just In... Steven Frischling Exposed to Anthrax!!

In addition to being shot; being struck by flying debris and burned on 9/11; being assaulted by police, actor Hugh Grant and a college basketball player; being held at gunpoint numerous times; being sickened by airborne pathogens after Hurricane Katrina; being hit directly by a teargas canister during a riot; losing a kidney in a professional snowboard race, being burned in fires; being threatened with arrest for treason; having hurricanes rip the roof off a building he was in and surviving cancer.... unlucky/extremely lucky photographer-turned-blogger Steven Frischling was exposed to anthrax!

Isn't it amazing what our hero will go through to bring home the photos nobody ever gets to see?

Sports Shooter, 09/11/03
http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=3944

"By the way TD, I also stood on Ground Zero on Sept 11, was hit by flying debris when 7 World Trade Centeer collapsed, and was in the Hart Senate Building the day they found Anthrax in a senators office.....so I know what it is like to be good and scared by acts of terrorism.....but my freedom is what makes me,and every American, different than the rest of the world"

Since he was exposed, he obviously needed to be given massive antibiotics:

Sports Shooter, 02/25/03
http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=1252

"My D1 has survied fast moving concrete as 7 World Trade Center collapsed 1.5 blocks from me on Sept 11 in NYC, a direct hit from a tear gas canister being fired from riot cops in my direction, other random riot action, being run over by Ricky Williams (Miami Dolphins) in Dec, me being put on Cirpo (it did not need the Cipro) after Anthrax was found in the Hart Senate Building, many hours and photos following politicians, trials, executives, The Olympics, etc etc etc."

Happy Lying!

Steven Frischling Sickened by Hurricane Katrina!

Can you imagine a major news event happening without Steven Frischling somehow getting involved? He certainly can't.

Frischling claims he was in New Orleans right after Hurricane Katrina struck, where our hero had to deal with menacing gangs and airborne pathogens! In fact, it was even scarier than his imaginary trip to a war zone in Basrah!

There are no photos anywhere that would support Steven Frischling being in New Orleans right after Hurricane Katrina. However, that didn't stop him from bragging about his exploits on FlyerTalk and Digital Wedding Forum (where no doubt he thought he would not encounter any news photographers who were actually there).

"What is the scariest City you have traveled to?"
FlyerTalk, 2/21/08

"Basrah, Iraq.................you know the brochure said the war was officially over. Apparently no one told the folks hiding out with AK-47s and RPGs. Other than that, having covered war, riots and natural disaster, I would have to say New Orleans, in the Lower 9th Ward about 8 days after Hurricane Karina when the gangs started to move back in."

Eight days after Hurricane Katrina, according to our research, the Lower 9th Ward was about 60 percent underwater. There were journalists there, who report that there were no gangs there. And no Steven Frischling.

Here's a photo we found that shows this area, about 12 days after Katrina struck. Are the gangs hiding under the water?

But not only that... the Frischling health curse strikes again! He claims he became "incredibly ill" after being exposed to "an airborne pathogen!" (But our hero still kept working, naturally.)

Digital Wedding Forum, 11/28/08

"I was in NoLA covering the devastation of Katrina. I didn't feel safe anywhere in the city during this time. Despite becoming incredibly ill due to an airborne pathogen, I kept working, but most of the city was unstable and I preferred to only go into areas with a law enforcement or National Guard presence."

Bullshit. Think of the thousands of people out there, including rescuers, journalists, National Guard, etc., some of whom were actually in the contaminated water. Yet Frischling is the one who got sick?

The following article debunks the notion that people were getting sick right after Katrina.

http://www.infectioncontroltoday.com/articles/2007/04/hurricane-katrina-s-impact.aspx

"There really haven't been any exposures to anything out of the ordinary. Nothing," states Deoine Reed, PhD, infection control manager and epidemiologist with the Tulane University Hospital system and the Ochsner Clinic Foundation. "It is kind of disappointing because we were hoping to see something, but nature has it so it actually can protect the people somehow. It's positive, good news. Nobody's getting infected."

Have any airborne or waterborne pathogen transmission been reported in Louisiana since the hurricane? "Yeah, but nothing different from the usual," says La. State epidemiologist Raoult Ratard, MD, MPH. Ratard says Louisiana experienced the usual flu season and upper respiratory diseases, but, "It does not look like it was more than usual," he says.

Even if Frischling had been there at this time and became ill, how would he know it was due to an airborne pathogen unless he was thoroughly tested somewhere? And since this was such a rare occurrence, wouldn't it be reported to authorities and discussed in the medical community? Wouldn't these medical experts in Louisiana have heard about it?

So Frischling, where are your photos from post-Katrina New Orleans? Surely photos from one of the largest natural disasters ever would make it onto your own website. Did airborne pathogens sicken your camera too? Where can we see these photos?

Update: A faithful reader posted the following comment with quotes from Frischling, indicating he was nowhere near New Orleans eight days after Hurricane Katrina:

Katrina hit August 29.

On September 6 at 12:38 am - 8 days later Fish posts the following on Sportsshooter.com, which clearly indicates that he's still at home.

"->> We spent the morning gathering up clothes and sent down two boxes of mens clothes, women's clothes, materinty clothes, kids clothes and a nice LL Bean baby backpack (easiest way I know for someone to haul a baby around, they probably need it more than I do right now).

I am sure we'll send what we can down again soon."

Later that same day at 10:20 pm he posts:

"->> I just found out my company donated US$40,000 to the relief effort, following thier £25,000 donation following the attacks in London.

It is nice to know that my corporation has a heart."

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=17256

Now of course, maybe he then hopped into his Mercedes Benz 300D Turbo which goes 150 mph. "(My Mercedes turbo diesel will do about 150, but the tires are rated for 130)" 

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=9935 

Of course, he has the only one that goes this fast - as the rest of the world owns the ones with a top speed of maybe 120. http://www.europeancarweb.com/editorial/epcp_0506_mercedes_benz_300d/index.html

Happy Lying!

Real Photojournalism from a Real War Zone

Actual photographer Sam Morris left another great comment that needs to be its own post. Everyone needs to see these stunning images taken by photojournalist Tyler Hicks of the fighting in Libya. The New York Times also conducted an interview with him.

Because I think some of the posters on this site are not photographers, I would like to point you to a posting from yesterday on the New York Times photo blog, Lens. In it, photographer Tyler Hicks describes what conditions were like in Libya Wednesday. This post, and his photos, will give you a good idea why so many good photographers working today, Hicks, David Guttenfelder, Jack Gruber, Justin Sullivan, Julie Jacobson, anyone from VII, et. al. deserve recognition and respect. This is what galls a lot of photographers - bullshitters are common, but to say you are a part of a small group of people who put their lives on the line to bring back photos to the public about the horrible nature of war, conflict, famine, strife, etc. when you are not, really pisses some people off. I am guessing most of them don't even know of Fish, and if they do, they don't give a fuck (ooops, I dropped the F-Bomb again - please don't report it to my company again Steven).

True, Steven did go to Iraq. And he sat on a boat with the Coast Guard. Him claiming he was in a war zone is like me claiming I won the Pulitzer Prize, when it was my paper that won it for public service in 2009. Sure, I had photos in the package that won, but it was the reporting and the work of a lot of people at the paper that won the award.

Anyway, here is the link (please, take a moment to read it and look at the photos - it will give you an understanding of what I am talking about):

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/in-the-thick-of-libyas-brutal-fighting/

Be sure to read the comments from all the people thanking Tyler for his spectactular photos.

Steven Frischling on Photo Captions

These appeared at fuckyeahsportsshooter.tumblr.com but we wanted to salute our Tumblr friends for recognizing Steven Frischling's genius as a professional photographer. (He's so good his photos taken in places he's never been win awards.)

Plus, here is his celebrated caption, talking about, his photo of, baseball player, David Ortiz, of the Boston, Red, Sox.

Steven Frischling's Conflicting Accounts of Same-Sex Wedding Photos

Steven Frischling claims that his photos of same-sex wedding ceremonies in 2000 in Vermont ended up in Life, Time, Newsweek, US News & World Report, etc. Maybe true, maybe not - we've never suggested he's never had photos published.

But what does concern us here at the FishFraud Blog are the major inconsistencies in his stories about how he got those photos.

Story #1
In this story, he states that he was approached by a wire service to cover the event but turned it down to shoot it for UPI. Of course his photos were so fantastic he sold them for years after.

From Sports Shooter 2/8/03
http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=1113

"I shot the first day same sex marriages were legal in Vermont (anywhere in the US). Initially I was approched to shoot it for a wire, with full copyright transfer, I turned it down. I shot it for UPI (again, no copyright transfer) and Corbis, and in the next year photos I had shots appeared in LIFE's Year in Pictures (full page), Time's Year in Pictures (full page), LIFE's Photo Album 2001 (one and a half pages), Newsweek (3/4 page), US News (1/2 page), and about 32 other resales. In the past 2.5 years since the event I have made another 25+ sales of the images. I am not sure what the totals are for the licensing fees, but go to Editorial Photos estimator to figure out my sales to Life (twice) Time, Newsweek and US News. Quite a bit more than the $180 AP pays."

Story #2
Five years later, in a discussion on FlyerTalk about digital cameras, the story has changed. First, he was no longer shooting it for UPI but now says he was shooting for Life Magazine (not that he had a photo that ended up in Life, but he shot it for Life). Second, he says that he had to use a point-and-shoot digital camera to take the picture because both of his Nikon D1 (digital) cameras failed simultaneously. (He just has the worst luck!)

From Flyertalk 7/16/08
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/travel-photography/845151-digital-newbie-10mp-vs-12mp-major-difference-2.html#post10044736

"Back in 2000 I shot a full page photo for Life Magazine with a 2.0mp Nikon Coolpix 950. Why the Coolpix 950? Both my 2.7mp Nikon D1 bodies failed simultaneously! Life Magazine was a large format magazine, quite a but larger than Time/Newsweek/USNWR, closer to the format of ESPN The Magazine."

Story #3
Remember his terrible luck, with both his D1 cameras failing simultaneously? But back on Sports Shooter in 2003, he posted a total contradictory story in which he shot this for a newspaper! This time, he claims he used the point-and-shoot CoolPix because his film camera (Nikon F100) ran out of film. He claims an intern who "begged" him to develop his film ruined it all, and then he "shortly after" bought a D1!

From Sports Shooter 4/21/03
http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=1705

"On July 1, 2000 same sex weddings became legal in Vermont. This was my first assignment back after my daugher was born (June 17), and I chose to shoot the midnight story because it was the first wedding to take place, it was 3 blocks from my house and I knew both "brides", so I knew I'd get all the access I wanted blocking out AP, Reuters, AFP, etc etc etc.

A summer inten (daughter of a layout person) begged me to let her run my film, since she was a photo student, and she has souped some film in the past I let her get the film back so I could keep shooting after the small ceremony.

When I got back to the paper my four rolls were all rolled together (in individual reels, but rolled tight) and burned. She had to confess she had been bringing in her own plastic reels and never used metal reels before. She did not want a problem so she did not ask someone to help her or wait for me.

Major national news has been destroyed....and I was upset because the wires and other papers got the ceremony in the clerks office, but not the brides getting dressed, re-reading the vows in private, speaking with the clerk in a private meeting with the other media trying to peek in the window, and other private tender moments,

Oh well, at least I got two different photos from a different wedding from the same day in Life's Year in Pictures (full page) and Life's Photo Album (1.5 pages). The full page was shot on a Nikon CoolPix 950 (my F100 ran out of film)

I bought a D1 shortly after this little incident (which caused me to break a finger when I punched the wall next to my desk in anger)."

Story #4
Now he says he bought his first D1 in September 2000, while the first same-sex weddings occurred in July 2000.

From Sports Shooter 10/25/03
http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=4980

"But the first digital body I bought was my D1 (for $5,500) in Sept 2000, followed shortly there after by a second D1."

Our questions:

• Why are there so many conflicting details surrounding these photos?
• Who did you shoot the photos for - UPI, Life Magazine, or the newspaper where the daughter of a layout person ruined your film?
• Did you use the CoolPix because BOTH your D1s failed simultaneously, or because your F1 ran out of film, shortly before you bought your first D1?
• What exactly is wrong with you?

Happy Lying!

@&!# Yeah Sports Shooter!

It's hard to top our epic previous post (192 comments and counting!) but we have more stories to tell! So let us continue.

A factoid we've mentioned several times, but that a sad couple in Connecticut refuses to believe, is that photography industry professionals sincerely have a problem with Steven Frischling. They've left dozens of comments here expressing their thoughts on him, from frustration to outright hatred, but no doubt S&S think it's all lies.

We're getting insane traffic coming from various photography forums, some of which are members only and we can't see what's being said. However, the majority is coming from SportsShooter.com (where Steven has irritated people for years) and an "addendum" site, fuckyeahsportsshooter.tumblr.com. The Tumblr site is a tongue-in-cheek homage to SportsShooter which features notable photos and quotes from SportsShooter members.

They just love us over at FYSS. The site now links to our blog posts, and now they are regularly using stupid quotes from Steven Frischling we've posted!

Why are they doing this? It backs up the comments left here that Frischling is a giant joke to true working photographers.

Thank you for this!

We may not be experts, but is a "journalist who wears blinders" truly the most dangerous thing?

What about "photojournalists" who lie about everything? Couldn't this possibly damage the credibility of all photojournalists?

What about "photojournalists" who offer advice to people about going to war zones when they have never, ever been to one themselves? Isn't that dangerous?

What about "photojournalists" who design fake government stickers to get their equipment past the TSA at the airport, and put it online for others to print out? Isn't that a bit dangerous AND illegal?

What about "photojournalists" who brag about taking small knives with them on planes, and advise others how to do it too?

And they just added this gem we hadn't seen.... yet another assault!

Blogger Steven Frischling Lies About Being in Iraq

Of all the gross lies and exaggerations from Steven Frischling we have posted thus far, his tales about Iraq are possibly the most damning and offensive. (Yes, even more offensive than his lies about Sept. 11.)

Let's review the evidence and then take a look at his tales.

The RAF sometimes goes on patrol when they are not drinking in front of Steven Frischling.

Steven Frischling made his first (and evidently only) trip to Iraq in May 2003. He was not embedded with any unit. It was a public relations trip with Richard Branson (founder of Virgin) to drop off humanitarian aid at the airport in Basra. As Frischling brags repeatedly at every point, the total time on the ground was six hours. He never left the airport. The British provided security at the airport and Frischling has a picture of one of their armored vehicles in front of a sign at the airport.

His second trip to "Iraq" was in February 2004 as an embedded photographer for five days on a Coast Guard boat patrolling the Gulf, miles off the coast of Iraq. He claims to have been sent on assignment by Bloomberg News, but that is likely false. It would appear he paid his own way there and made arrangements to sell his photos to multiple agencies.

"All of my ventures into Iraq were for Bloomberg News. Bloomberg is a Financial News Service." Digital Wedding Forum, 5/22/07

However, the same photos from his boat trip appear on WorldPicturesNews (search for Frischling Iraq") and Getty tagged as Bloomberg. Bloomberg, according to our research, would not send a photographer on assignment and then allow him or her to resell the same images to some web agency. Outtakes, yes, but not the same images it paid for.

There are no other discussions, photographs or message board threads that would support Steven Frischling's claim of going to Iraq any other time.

However, as you will see, Steven Frischlings claims to have been to Iraq multiple times, has been shot at, has had "things exploding" near him, has been embedded with the Royal Air Force, spent "weeks" shooting in 120 degrees in Basra, had cameras fail in Iraq due to excessive dirt, has spent two weeks with the Coast Guard in Iraq, has won awards for his coverage of the Iraq war, and has hung out with drunken British soldiers in Basra!

It's all quite literally unbelievable.

Let's start with clarifying just how long he was on that Coast Guard ship...

"I recently received an e-mail from someone while I was overseas. I was unable to get online, or get any e-mail for five days, as I was in the middle of the Arabian Gulf on a Coast Guard Cutter." SportsShooter, 2/17/04

But that time suddenly grew from five days into two weeks!

"On an assignment in Iraq I had two 1D bodies and a 10D. One 1D's CCD became filthy and I switched to a 1D/10D combo. While I was extremely impressed with the performance of the 10D for the two weeks it was attached to me" Digital Wedding Forum 2/28/07

"While out with the US Coast Guard in Iraq one of my 1D CCDs got so dirty I switched to the 10D (my backup). The EOS 10D did almost 2 weeks with me in Iraq, out in some really nasty conditions and it performed flawlessly." Digital Wedding Forum, 7/30/06

He claims he has been to Iraq "multiple times" as well as other "areas of conflict" (WHERE ARE THE PHOTOS?)

"I have been to Iraq multiple times as a photographer, as well as other areas of conflict. When I have gone into an area of conflict I have to weigh my safety and security vs the subject I am shooting." Digital Wedding Forum, 11/08

His photos from Iraq were so fantastic, they won awards... (WHICH ONES?!)

"I have won awards for photos I have shot in the US, Canada the UK and Iraq. Does that make me international award winning? The awards are all US awards though (and I don't list them anywhere on my resume or profile because really, I don't put alot of stock in awards)" Digital Wedding Forum, 7/7/06

Remember his photo of the Royal Air Force at the Basra airport? Now he's been embedded with them!

"I was also an embedded journalist with both the British Military and the United States Military in Iraq." Digital Wedding Forum, 11/24/07

"I have been to Iraq with both the USGC and the RAF." Digital Wedding Forum, 5/22/07

Not only was he embedded with the Royal Air Force, he claims the British soldiers were drunk! Our photographer sources, who have photos to prove they actually have been to war zones, are adamant that alcohol is strictly prohibited in a combat zone and on bases and they never witnessed drunken American or British soldiers.

"Your wedding sounds scarier than my trips to Iraq in the past few years!.........although I was with some drunken heavily armed members of the RAF at one point in Basrah. Luckily a wedding didn't break out!" Digital Wedding Forum, 12/12/05

He claims to have suffered through extreme heat for weeks in Basra, with temperatures up to 120 Farenheit. Average temperature in May is 95 degrees Farenheit. Had he been there in the summer when it actually gets that hot (in the summer instead of in May), he would have surely mentioned the extreme humidity that they experience in Basra due to its proximity to the Gulf.

"I spent two weeks out shooting in weather than would go from around 120F in the day time to a cool 90F in the evenings while out in Basrah, Iraq." Digital Wedding Forum, 7/8/07

Not only was it hot, but he's been under attack! (NO PHOTOS TO BACK THIS UP)

"no more trips to a hot desert with things being fired at me or items exploding near me." Digital Wedding Forum, 2/8/07

He claims he's captured "scenes of war" (NO PHOTOS TO BACK THIS UP)

"I have documented the psychological struggle of first responders, the problems officers face when working in drug infested housing projects, the aftermath of hurricanes and floods, the scenes and emotions and two terrorist attacks (1993 and 2001) in NYC, been in the morgue following plane crashes and the scenes of war, as well as other life shaping events" Digital Wedding Forum, 5/22/07

He brags he was in "an active combat zone" (NO PHOTOS TO BACK THIS UP)

"I have worked in some close quarters, under some very intense situations. Walking into a house with paramedics to watch them tell a woman her father is dead and they need to call the coroner; working 1-on-1 with a presidential candidate ; getting into nasty situations while documenting law enforcement; being in the field in an active combat zone with the military, etc......these are things that have all taught how to be a fly on the wall."  Digital Wedding Forum, 7/19/07

It gets better. He claims to have nearly been "detained" for mouthing off to a "state trooper" in front of the state trooper's "supervisor" at a TSA checkpoint on his way to Basra for having a bulletproof vest. This is absurd considering he was only going to the heavily fortified airport. (Why would a TSA agent be seeking advice and assistance from a state trooper at an airport security checkpoint?)

"A few months ago my wise @$$ mouth almost got me detained before an international flight. I had my bullet proof vest in my carry on (I only had carry on) when security pulled it from my bag and handed it to a State Trooper at Logan airport. The Trooper asked "What is this?" My response was "You should know, you're wearing one." He asked why I had it and I told him I was off to Basrah, he responded with "I've heared it is pretty safe in the southern region of Iraq ." my response was "There were four shooting homocides in the Yukon Territory last year and a few hundred dead in Southern Iraq yesterday, I'll be sure to leave my vesy home when I go to Canada."
The Trooper was not amussed, luckily his supervisor was there and actully was ammused and prevented the Statie from taking my stuff to another area to have a little chat with me.....whew." Sports Shooter, 10/4/03

His cameras have seen it all and have "survived" (as they should) so many important "assignments"

"All the bodies have 1,000,000+ frames shot. Two of the bodies have survived multiple assignments in Iraq, all have enjoyed stints at the Final Four, World Series, Presidential pool gigs, etc........." Digital Wedding Forum, 9/16/07

"My bodies have not only done weddings, but have also been to war with me, riots with me, blown thousands of cycles covering NFL seasons MLB seasons, NCAA football, basketball and hockey seasons along with the daily assignments that don't require as much abuse." Digital Wedding Forum, 8/17/06

He claims that his camera got so dirty it was unusable. Keep in mind he was on the water at the time, where dirt should not be an issue.

"My 1D bodies have been to hell and back, literally and been just fine. While out with the US Coast Guard in Iraq one of my 1D CCDs got so dirty I switched to the 10D (my backup). The EOS 10D did almost 2 weeks with me in Iraq, out in some really nasty conditions and it performed flawlessly" Digital Wedding Forum, 7/30/06

"My lenses have survived riots, floods, hurricanes, war zones, blizzards, disaster sites and yes even a few weddings" Digital Wedding Forum, 3/9/07

He claims he was going to be embedded with US Air Force 439 AeroMed Evac Squadron but his adoring girlfriend Susannah Seefeldt refused to let him go. (Was the 439, which appears to be a reservist unit, even involved in Iraq at this time?)

"She nixed me going to cover the 439 AeroMed Evac Squadron as a short term "embed" photog. I really wanted to shoot it, but she was certain she did not want me to go, so I stayed home." Sports Shooter, 4/25/03

To add an even more absurd angle to this, he tries to give advice and directions about how to make arrangements to work in Iraq, even though he has never been outside the airport! He is immediately corrected by photographers who have actually been to Iraq and point out how dangerous it is for him to be spreading his bullshit.

http://www.sportsshooter.com/message_display.html?tid=10130

Think of the thousands of soldiers, civilians and journalists who have been killed and injured in Iraq over the past eight years. These people truly had rockets fired at them and things exploding next to them. That Frischling would lie and claim this all happened to him, while insulting the British soldiers by implying they are a bunch of drunks, is further evidence of his sick need to seek attention for himself at all costs.

The fact that he continues to call himself a "journalist," and that Randy Petersen continues to host his blog on BoardingArea.com, is nothing if not disgusting.