Shutterstock is just one of many stock photo databases where reporters like me can find generic photos of just ... real stock photos like "Cyber corn woman," "Weird businessman in a rubber bird ...

Whatever the reason, many news websites make use of generic images — either purchased stock images or reused file photos — to illustrate articles. Sometimes it’s pretty obvious that such an ...

The stock photos tend to fall into three categories: a woman with cat-eye glasses who looks like a secretary, a woman balancing her briefcase and her baby, and a woman standing atop a shorter ...