Journalists sometimes use historical photographs to illustrate articles about current events  But this recycling of old photographs overstates the similarities between past and present, and thereby denies the individual significance of those current events
Hence, the use of historical photographs in this manner by journalists distorts public understanding of the present by presenting current events as mere repetitions of historical incidents
Any practice by which journalists present current events as mere repetitions of historical incidents overstates the similarities between past and present.