By Bill Marvel and Manuel Mendoza
The Dallas Morning News
Published on 4/1/2004
Excerpt:
Media companies increasingly have to deal with horrific images of war and terrorism, said Kenneth F. Irby, an authority on visual journalism at The Poynter Institute for Media Studies in Florida.
“The level of barbaric and terrorist attacks that are taking place make it clear these kinds of situations are not going to go away,” he said. …
Inevitably, said Mr. Irby of Poynter, the argument about such photos involves bodies or body parts. “Always in the past, we’ve addressed these as taste issues,” he said.
Many newspapers apply the “cereal” test, he said: What images would readers want to see over a breakfast table? Or what images would they want their children to encounter?
“I don’t think these tests are relevant any more. We live in a graphic society, whether we choose to or not,” Mr. Irby said.
But he emphasized the importance of balancing care for the feelings of survivors against the obligation to report honestly.
“The residual impact or war is ugly and harsh,” Mr. Irby said. “As a free press, we have the responsibility to bring that reality to our citizens. It’s been photographs that moved the minds and hearts of human beings in ways written word can’t. But just because you can do something doesn’t mean you should.”
The important thing, he said, is for news organizations to disclose to readers and viewers the thinking behind the decisions.
“I teach at Poynter that we should be willing to disclose why we make a decision, either in a caption or an editor’s note that runs with the photograph,” he said. “We should share a certain level of reflective thinking and even our vulnerability. They will say our responsibility is to maximize truth-telling. Finding balance between that and not trying to cause harm – sharing part of that humanizes us.”
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