In 2025, OPB’s visual journalists shared the moments that inspired, delighted and defined life in Oregon and Southwest Washington over the past year in thousands of photos and videos.

Our work helps connect and inform our communities, but it also plays an increasingly critical role in today’s visual-based society at a time when it can be hard to trust what we see.

AI and digital editing tools are used to create fake content in an attempt to fool viewers. Old photos are presented as current events or in a false context. Videos are manipulated. It is increasingly difficult for viewers to believe what they see – and when they do believe it, sometimes it’s not real.

The good news is that in just a few minutes, many visuals can be verified.

Try doing a reverse image search on TinEye or Google Image to see if the video or photo has been used online before. Look at the date and origin of the video footage. Check for inconsistencies in perspective or lighting, and for unnatural movements or audio-sync issues. Ask yourself critical questions about why and how an image or video was made, and the purpose of publishing it.

But perhaps the biggest way to verify the authenticity of a visual is to inspect the source of the content. Most news outlets have a strong set of standards that govern visual reportage.

For visuals at OPB, you can rely that the work you see, watch, read and hear is rooted in accuracy and truth.

Here’s a collection of our favorite photos from this year.

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2025/12/30/most-memorable-images-2025/