Photojournalism Ethics - Essay Example

Photojournalism Ethics News images profoundly shape culture. Indeed, a single image is worth a thousand words. Photojournalism is a branch of journalism that involves the collection, edition and presentation of images to narrate a story in the news. The innovations in printing and the photography that occurred in the 1880s made the practice of using photos to tell news stories a practical possibility. Before then, presses used engravings to print material. Since then, photos used in the news have had the effect of creating memories in people over the years. A sole photo in the news has the effect of either summarizing the events and inspiring a nation or upsetting the readers in a heightened manner as compared to several pages of print pertaining to the same subject. As the cliché says, “With great power comes responsibility”. The responsibility of photojournalists is to adhere to the various standards of ethics instituted. Ethical concerns regarding to photojournalism date back to 1839. The concerns have risen to alarming levels with the possibilities presented by technology. With technology, people have the ability to create and share photos with much ease (Lester 1). Various publication institutions have their own set of rules that govern photojournalism. Unethical practices in photojournalism should be overcome because of the impact news photos have on the readers. Ethics, as per the National Press Photographers Association, involves the depiction of the subject in question in a comprehensive and faithful way. The responsibility of an ethical photojournalist is preserving the history of the society while documenting it using photographs (90). Debatably, there is no black or white in the definition of what is ethical or not. Lester maintains that ethics is grounded on the six philosophies that a photojournalist should consider; categorical imperative, utilitarianism, hedonism, the golden mean, the golden rule and the veil of ignorance. While the latter two are based on the victim’s perspective, the other is founded on the photojournalist’s perspective (45). Anything that falls outside the scope of the proposed definitions of ethics in the purview of photojournalism, automatically, classifies as unethical. For that reason, it should be eliminated through combined efforts from the news media fraternity. Photojournalism should consider the wellness of the reader, victims’ family, and the young children. Unethical practices in photojournalism will not pay attention to the effect of the photographs to the various interested parties in the news. Perlmutter and Major give a report of Bill Keller who stated propagated the importance of using images to showcase the brutality performed on the victims, but emphasized on being mindful of what impact the images have on children who may be exposed to them, the families of the victims in the images and the reader, in general (72). A complaint was raised by the wife of a military working in Iraq questioning the importance of the images that disgusted her, as a family member. Ethics dictates that a photojournalist should consider each of this aspect before printing photos on the news. Arguably, images in news should not be avoided because it is the depiction of what humankind is capable of doing. Even so, alternatives of cropping, censoring, and blurring images exists. Other publishing corporations employ the use of this features are intended at protecting the interests of the other parties to the news depicted by the images (72). It is evident that the unethical photojournalists are not living up to their potential because alternatives exist. The reality of the moment captured by the photographs should be upheld without manipulation. According to Campbell, the digital manipulation of a photograph of a war distorts its original message that the images were intended to convey. He gives an account of Brian Walski who altered a photo of a British soldier by combining two photographs that were used on the front page of the Los Angeles Times. The editorial policy of the newspaper categorically prohibited the altering of images and this led to his sacking. In essence, Walski had contravened the ethical standards that were set forth, a detrimental initiative for his career. Some may argue that amendments to photographs are essential to give a better quality and to increase comprehension of the message of the photograph. Even so, with the digital era, negatives are not negatives that can secure the comprehension of the original image (103). Photojournalists ought to adhere to standards of ethics to the letter to y achieve the objective of using photos to tell a story in news. Still images create long lasting memories then moving images in television. Perlmutter and Major present the reaction of Oliver Holmes to photographs of corpses who were involved in the Antietam battle. Holmes says that “Let him who wishes to know what war is look at this series of illustrations” (72). According to him, only the brave hearted and the curious ones were able to endure the disgust of the photos. Moreover, he concedes that the photographs were too disgusting for any person to look at them repeatedly (Perlmutter and Major 74). Bad memories should not be carried on to the present and future. People ought to get over bad experiences move on with life. Presenting such disturbing images in print form, whereby they van be looked at from time to time, is not confirming to the morals of humanity and hence ethics. Arguing that some events are worth remembering is potent, but how come only the images of bad occasions like wars, violence and sex are highlighted in the purview of photojournalism. Intrinsically, scrapping of unethical practices from this purview of presenting information holds a brighter future for us. Analysis The war in Vietnam presented a very elusive ethical situation. In this photography by Nick Ut titled the ‘Napalm Girl’, contains a full exposure of the frontal nudity of a child, apart from depicting the efforts of Americans in the war. Before the decision of printing the image in the front page of The New York Times was reached, the editors must have undergone a difficult situation. Perhaps, the editors compromised the privacy of the young girl with an intention of exposing the conflict that the Americans were devoted to win for wellbeing of everybody. In conclusion, ethics are indispensable in photojournalism. With the advent of technology, ethical concerns are taking a heightened level because of the capabilities that complement technology. Images manipulation has become the order of the day, and the lack of negatives to trace the original image worsens the case. Walski, for instance, was fired for altering an image. Ethics ensures that the interests of the readers, children and the family members of the victims are at the heart of the journalists. In addition, photojournalists should employ ethical standards when selecting the kind of images to print given the long lasting memory still photos have as compared to moving images in television. Upholding of ethical standards in photojournalism will lead to a fair and satisfactory news delivery in this error of complications presented by technology. Works cited Campbell, David. War and Media. A journal on Ethics and international Affairs (2003): 99-108. Print. Lester, Paul Martin. Photojournalism: An Ethical Approach. Hillsdale, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 1991.  Print. Perlmutter, David & Major, Lesa. Images of Horror From Fallujah: ‘The transparency of angst and indecision about the Fallujah images have been good for journalism’. A journal of War and Terror (2004): 71-74. Print. The National Press Photographers Association, NPPA Code of Ethics, 2004. Web. 7 August 2014 Read More