We all know that the press touches up photos, airbrushes them, and makes stars look a little better than their best. It’s always in the back of our minds but we don’t really think about it.

Well, unless the original photos get pointed out and compared side by side to the altered ones. And that’s exactly what happened to a photo of Katie Couric this week.

These are the original photo and the photo that went to print of Katie Couric for a network promotional magazine. More about the network’s and Katie’s reactions can be found at MSNBC.

The official explanation is that someone in their photo department got a little “overzealous”. I’m sure they meant well but this whole thing only ended up making real-life Katie like a bad “before the makeover” shot.