Photographs connect with readers in an emotional way that stories cannot. A story can describe how a person died and that is disturbing but seems proper to most readers. They understand that it was news and we have to tell the news. But publish a photograph of that same person at or after the moment of death and readers will be outraged. Still photography has a power that leaves parents worried how they will explain the pictures to children who play video games that depict graphic violence. Decisions on whether to publish disturbing images should be made after the photograph is shot. Presuming access doesn’t involve improper behavior such as trespassing or crossing police lines, photographers should shoot a variety of pictures in situations that present disturbing images, then participate with their editors in the decisions about which images to publish. In especially sensitive situations, you might want to find a way to seek readers’ views in advance of publication. Perhaps the public editor could enlist a group of volunteer readers to give quick feedback by e-mail on sensitive photos. You might find a way to solicit reader guidance online. Maybe you would find it helpful to consult with some colleagues in advertising or circulation who may not share your news values and might more closely reflect reader sensibilities. The point is not to identify any situation where a photo might offend readers and avoid publishing all of those photos. But you should listen to readers’ objections and decide whether the news value of this photograph is so powerful that it overrides those concerns. If you find that you always override reader objections or always cave in to them, you may have your decision-making process out of balance. Dead and dying people The news value threshold must be high for a newspaper to publish a photograph of a dead or dying person, especially if the person is recognizable in the photograph. Some questions to consider: Is this death or the event that caused it truly big news or are you making it bigger simply because you had a photographer present? Do other photographs show as effectively (or nearly as effectively) the power of the news event? How public was the death or the event that caused it? Do your standards vary for photographs of local people and for Americans in distant locations, such as New Orleans? Do your standards vary for Americans and for victims of disasters or wars in other countries? Grief Grief similarly provides compelling photographs that may capture the tragic nature of a news event. But sometimes a photograph feels to readers like an intrusion. In a Poynter column about an APME survey of how readers and journalists viewed photographs, Ryan Pitts of the Spokesman-Review wrote, “They felt as if they were intruding on a sacred moment.” The questions journalists should weigh are similar to those for images of dead and dying people. An extra consideration in grief situations might be whether the family granted you access to a private gathering or whether the family had to receive the grim news in a public setting. Other considerations How do considerations change when the subject of a disturbing photograph is a child? Or an illegal immigrant? What if a photograph depicts illegal or dangerous activity? Does the photograph need to be on the front page or a section front or would readers find it less disturbing inside the paper? Consider using the web One solution for publishing disturbing images would be to publish them on the web. The link to the photograph could warn of the disturbing content, so that you are providing the photograph to readers who want to see the true appalling or tragic nature of the news event but you avoid running photographs on the front page where the sensitive reader has no way to avoid them. Sometimes reader objections to disturbing newspaper images mention the shock of seeing that picture over breakfast or concern about having to explain it to children who saw it in the newspaper. The web allows a way for editors to warn of the disturbing nature and gain reader assent before allowing access. Consider explaining to the reader When you decide to publish a disturbing photograph, you might consider explaining in the same edition why you decided to publish this picture. Sometimes readers who find a photograph offensive will be more understanding of their decision if they know your reasoning and know that you understood the offensive nature of the photograph and considered other views. Other helpful resources
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