The Ethics of Photojournalism

With taking this photo it has made me realize that photojournalism does not show dead bodies like they used to in World War II. If you look up images of WWII you can see photos of many dead bodies, even piles of dead bodies. In today’s war you do not see that being published in newspapers, magazine, etc. You will see caskets with flags over them, but not the body itself.

Photo by  Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

 

Image Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/11/us/11bodies.html

 In the article Too Graphic? written by Arielle Emmett, talks about images of Haiti when a huge earthquake taking an estimated 230,000 lives, and perhaps 3 million injured or homeless. While American photojournalist ran to capture their images of the event it is nothing like taking photos in Afghanistan or Iraq. Emmett states, “…with countless rules of embedding and the continual threats of bullets and roadside bombs. And editors generally loath to publish graphic and disturbing images saw justification for doing so in the case of the catastrophe in Haiti.” Photographers just wanted to show the world how horrible the event was. Emmett continues with a quote from Michele McNally, assistant managing editor for photography at the New York Times, with, "One of the reasons the pictures were more graphic in Haiti was that the Haitian people wanted the journalists to photograph the dead bodies and tell their stories. They wanted the world to see, to know how horrible it was."

However, some people such as Valerie Payen-Jean Baptiste are upset with all the photos. Valeria lost every possession, her home, school she was a principal of, and nearly her family from the earthquake. A natural disaster, and not by other humans. Valerie says, “I'm tired of it; the photos are too much, I know that [news outlets] took pictures, and that enabled people to raise money. But what I see is that people in Haiti are really upset. Some view the photos as an insult, a disaster, since we have already suffered so much." I know I would feel like same way if I was in their shoes. There is only so many times you want to see the images that changed your whole life, that took everything away from you. I know the photos helped make the world aware of how devastating the earthquake was, and help raise money for the cause, but sometimes images just show too much.


Photo by Shaul Schwarz and Timothy Fadek
Image Source: http://natureandlife24.blogspot.com/2015/04/world-largest-earthquake-history.html#.WHQxrGN-siQ

 Lately with all the shootings going on in the world I have realized they are starting to show more graphic images now. One the news when there was a shooting you might have seen a body with a white sheet covering it. Now you see the blood on the road and streets. Seeing the blood of those victims makes it feel much more real. During the latest shooting at Ft. Lauderdale, I was actually watching the news when the breaking news came on, showing the airport and telling viewers as much as they could. I couldn’t stop watching because I wanted to know more. I wanted to see what the shooter looked like. However, the news showed victims of the shooting coming out of ambulances and going into the hospital. I believe this is wrong. Those people cannot get ahold of their families, nor will other people do it in time so their families would know before seeing it on the news. What if that is how they found out their family member was one who got shot? That isn’t a way I would want to find out, or think that other should find out either. I believe they should wait to show the victims so family members can find out a better way. 

Photo by Kelly Reilly