Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Photo Ethics

Several photos, all of which are graphic in nature and emotionally disturbing, can be viewed here.
The question at hand is; are any of these photos appropriate for publication?

The first set is a series of photos of a man before and after committing suicide-a certain R. Budd Dwyer who the following day was to be sentenced for receiving $300,000 in kickbacks. I wouldn't publish any of these if I worked for a Newspaper. Sure, the man was corrupt to the core, but he still has a family, and most importantly, he's a human being. A paper could report the incident and let readers draw their own conclusions. This is the job of the media-to inform. Photographing a man during his pathetic end and publishing it for all to see is simply unethical in my opinion.

The next photo shows a child agonizing over the death of his dog, which was killed by a car. The photo is entirely personal. Publishing the photo would serve no purpose.

For similar reasons, I wouldn't publish the next photo. A family in despair over their son's death is as personal as you can get. Publishing this would only cause further damage.

The next photo is a little more debatable. A disgruntled employee going haywire and murdering 7 individuals with a AK-47 is extremely newsworthy. Questions of what the motive was and whether or not there were signs leading up to the event could be reported on extensively. I think that with the family's consent, publication of this photo would be warrented. It gives readers a detailed and graphic view of what occured that words simply can't describe.

The picture of the boy, who was likely in an incredible amount of pain, should not be published. It's innapropriate for publication in my opinion not because of the injury (he survived), but because it would sicken readers.

I wrestled with the last photo more than any of the others. Although the photo is highly personal, it gets at a large issue. To learn about the societal consequences of debaucherous and binge-oriented celebrations, a person does not need to read a study or an article, he needs only to look at this picture. This is an instance where a picture does indeed speak louder than words, and with the consent of the victimized woman I would publish it. The rights of the men involved wouldn't concern me, and I imagine they would be too ashamed to protest.

1 comment:

  1. We confer with our subjects when we interview them. Doing the same in reporting as photojournalists makes a great deal of sense.

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