Whether to Publish Disturbing Images or Not - Essay Example

Name Tutor Course Date Whether to publish disturbing images or not The decision of whether or not to run pictures about an event continues to draw interest among journalists. The decision becomes tougher when the pictures show graphic contents about an accident or incident where victims have died or sustained serious injuries. The issues of ethics and ethical decision making have been centre of discussion for a long time now with researchers seeking to provide guidance by investing the motivation behind editors publishing gruesome pictures and the reaction of the readers towards such pictures. Some of the researchers who have engaged in these discussions are Renee Martin Kratzer and Brian Kratzer in their article “How Newspapers Decided To Run Disturbing 9/11 Photos” published in the Newspaper research Journal Vol. 24, No. 1, and Lester Paul, in his chapter “Victims of Violence” from the book The Curious Reader. These two research works discuss the considerations behind editors’ decisions to publish disturbing pictures in their newspapers by investigating literature materials around this subject and by carrying out interviews with editors to determine the reasons behind their decisions. Kratzer and Kratzer presented previous research findings conducted to understand how editors decided which stories to run in their newspapers before focusing on the 9/11 incident and how editors chose to run or not to run the images. Lester Paul, on the other hand, structured his discussions around specific issues surrounding this subject like the immediate impact the images have on readers, the reasons for reader reactions, conditions that results to reader storm and ethical considerations for journalists and image editors. Lester also focused on specific incidences that have been reported to have resulted to reader feedback, analysing the reasons why the editors decided to run these images. Both the research works presented interesting revelations of the events that surround the decision making process and the consequences of publishing graphic images. Lester mentions that readers may be becoming more immune to shock and that society continues to become attracted to tragic news. Kratzer and Kratzer also agree that images are the best way readers can be taken into the story so that they experience the events as they happened. While the battle between whether publishing these images is beneficial to newspaper firms and satisfying for the photo journalists or it damages the reputation of the newspaper firms, I remain to ponder whether or not readers should have the final say since they are the consumers of this information. A researcher’s debate on “disturbing photographs” in Kratzer and Kratzer’s article described images showing the death of Chris Hani, the secretary general of the South African Communist Party. In this publication images were run showing “blood spilled over” around the scene and “his tongue hung between his teeth”. Worse still, there was a bullet hole in the jaw. While this could have been the best way the journalist wanted to tell the story exactly as it happened, some readers may not stand the sight of that. I believe that Lester brings out a comprehensive discussion by focusing on specific issues that surround publication of graphic images and then digging deep to reveal the possible factors that motivated the editors to run these images. Kratzer and Kratzer, on the other hand focused their discussion mainly around the decision making stage. Both articles, however, agree that the decisions are majorly influenced by personal values. The decisions, in many circumstances, are not made by a single person. The final decision to run or not to run is usually a result of consultative meetings and discussions and the images are published only when consensus is reached. As Kratzer and Kratzer pointed out, several staff found the 9/11 images disturbing and were cautious enough not to print on the first page. They found it so complex and debated for long before the decisions were made. Many editors found the incident and the images so overwhelming that “there was little or no doubt to not protect the public from the reality of the situation”. Many editors concluded that readers should not be shielded from the truth and they specifically selected disturbing images because of the horrific scenes. Lester also quotes Ephron a researcher who says “that the images disturb, is exactly as it should be...” While I agree that readers need to know the truth and that editors want the readers to receive this information in a very “forceful and powerful way”, the numerous readers who feel devastated and shocked by these images must be considered and protected. It is the role of the editors to do this. Both Kratzer and Kratzer and Lester agree that the distance between the scene of the incident and the target readers greatly influences the decision to run these images. As Kratzer and Kratzer state, concerns are majorly raised around reader response, invasion of the privacy of the victims and the ability of the images to contribute to the story. Unlike Kratzer and Kratzer, Lester goes ahead to reveal that journalists are continuing to be more careful and sensitive in the publishing of graphic images. For instance, in the case for Budd Dwyer’s suicide one editor said that he “believes in the public’s right to know” but he was not sure that included “seeing a distraught person blowing out his brains”. On the same case, another editor wondered whether anyone would wish that graphic suicide pictures get imposed on his or her children. Even for the readers who have been described to be “hard to offend or shock”, having such kinds of images on newspapers of victims whose close family of children could see would be breach of ethical and professional conductor on the part of the editors. As revealed by Lester, graphic images are likely to attract enormous reader response when young children and family members are involved. Same will likely be the case when the image is printed in colour, is from a local story, shows victims body, is nude or has no story accompaniment. I believe that photo journalism is an important means of delivering news as it has done over the years. I also think that since readers are the final information consumers, they need to have a greater say in what they want to read and see. Journalists are paid to take the photos and the more horrific the images are, the more satisfied photo journalists will feel in their role to convey incidents, accidents and terrorist acts as real as the events occur. Breach of victim privacy and considerations of impact on close family must remain significant in the decision to print or not to print graphic images. I have experienced the trauma and devastation myself when I saw some of the images on newspaper about a shooting incident. I cannot stand blood, if I was having a meal at the time, I would surely throw up. I believe I am not alone in this because several reports about reader responses on graphic content have been witnessed and recorded. I believe that ethical conduct should prevail at all times since this is one of the most sensitive issues in media reporting. I share Lester’s comments that ethical codes alone are not able to anticipate every situation; the language of ethical codes remains vague. The codes already direct that photographers should at all times maintain high standards of ethical conduct. Given the nature of photography, incidents occur very unexpectedly and very fast that photo journalists may not have time to think about the images they take. I therefore believe that greatest responsibility remains in the editing room. When newspaper editors fail to prevent prints that could be described as an “exploitation of grief”, for example, then the responsible individuals should be asked to account. Journalists should therefore, not get lost in the thrill of having the “best shots” but give consideration to what they readers want to see. Journalists need to be familiar with the current trends and they should be aware of what readers consider acceptable for publication and they should demonstrate strong, personal ethical background. Guiding principles, ethics, and prevailing readers’ tastes should guide photojournalism. It is only fare that readers read and see what they are comfortable to see in the newspapers and magazines. Works cited Kratzer, Renee and Kratzer Brian. How Newspapers Decided To Run Disturbing 9/11 Photos. Newspaper Research Journal 24, 1 (2003): 34 - 47 Lesser, Paul. Victims of Violence In Reading and Writing Across Disciplines. Read More