#16 in a series of background briefs

rinairs: The reference standard for TTG

{Pull in the bit about millions of photos, hundreds of thousands of togs?}

  • 1. What is rinairs?

    “rinairs” is an acronym combining two components:

    (1) respected international news agencies’

    (2) information-reportage standards

  • 2. Why does TTG rely on rinairs?

    Because no other standard for trustworthy photos is as highly respected.

    TTG will always incorporate the standards of the world’s largest providers of trusted photographs, whoever they happen to be.

    Almost every news photo published in the free world every day would fully meet the Trust Test and thus qualify as TTG.

  • 3. Where does TTG use rinairs?

    • The Trust Test stipulates that photographs have to meet rinairs for non-misrepresentation (as per P7) and non-deception (as per P8).

    In addition, rinairs serves as the arbiter (“How much is too much?”) for all of TTG’s Allowable Changes.

  • 4. How familiar are non-news photographers with rinairs?

    Probably a lot more familiar than they realize; many of the “big event” photos that the public remembers best meet rinairs.

  • 5. Aren't news organizations stricter than TTG in some areas?

    Yes they often are (but many TTG photographers striving to meet the Trust Test are unlikely to object to that!).

    Since few respected news organizations are less strict than TTG, that means the Trust Test can be useful as an initial “screening filter” for photos submitted to news organizations by the public.

    In other words, anytime a news organization has stricter standards than TTG, submitters can be sure that if their photograph doesn’t fully meet the Trust Test, then it won’t meet the news organization’s stricter news-reportage standards.

    See also FAQs 861–864 and 617–618.


TTG does not speak on behalf of any other entity, including news organizations.