How far should we go to get the best story?
How far to get noticed in the world of journalism, and start making our way up the career ladder?
There has been much debate on the issue of ethics this week. After a very informative talk from Alison Hastings of the Press Complaints Commission and a 2 hour debate in university today, I have come to the conclusion that it is completely your own call on how far you go. In my opinion it is context dependant, and every story will have a different boundary of ethics depending on its nature and circumstances.
However, I think there are some instances when journalists go too far. The famous case of Kevin Carter, South African Photojournalist, was brought up today and is an example of going too far in my opinion.
Kevin Carter's Vulture and Child Image
Why didn’t he help the girl? Why did he leave her? Did he chase the vulture away?
There has been much speculation on the internet as to what actually happened in the space of time that he took the photograph. There are rumours he wept afterwards, others say he calmly had a cigarette. There are reports that there were other people around..
This launches us into the classic dilemma of whether journalists should be witnesses or saviours of the subjects they depict.
I am unsure about this at the moment, but I do know that if it had been me, I would have tried to help the girl.
Tags: Alison Hastings, ethics, journalism, journalist, Kevin Carter, photograph, photographer, Press Complaints Commission, South Africa, Sudan
If you hold strong ethics, is it possible to work for a tabloid?
Is the system of “off the record briefings” held together by ethics or mutual self-interest?
I agree Ali. I think in some situations, reporting the fact of suffering and injustice and exposing its causes is moral duty enough. But to not help a dying child definitely crosses a line.
I really don’t like the idea of journalism where you would rather capture the picture first than help the person in front of you who needs the immediate help. I don’t see the idea that he wept because if you really have that person in front of you that really touches your heart, you won’t be bothering to capture the picture in front of you, and publish if everywhere it can get publicity. you would have gone to help the person, and nevermind the picture. If the excuse is that to give the world of the picture that is happening there, we know what happened, and we already know how cruel and damaging war can be. For me, I’d rather help children get education, and I’m pretty sure that the children who will be schooled in an academy that will be built there in Sudan won’t be experiencing famine like this one posted in this section. This is also one way that one can show the world that something serious is really happening to Sudan. People will question, and everything will follow, no need to capture, and display images of these pictures, I’d rather see the the picture of the children of Sudan going to school.
I think that journalists should get involved – journalists are human after all. We had an interesting lecture about trauma and how easy it is for journalists to suffer from post traumatic stress: there is not enough awareness of this – The lecturer showed us footage of 9/11: watching it back we all felt tense, scared, uncomfortable, it was really surreal… imagine having to be a reporter recording that (obviously a lot of it was captured by citizens) but it would be hard to keep your cool and distance in such a terrifying event – in one of the videos you hear the reporter panicking. I don’t know the ins and outs of the story you discuss but in my view the minute a journalist stops caring about their subject the minute they become a bad journalist. I may be idealistic in my beliefs but I think that journalism is a force for good in this world and it has been given a bad name by people who do not adhere to an ethical codes of practice.
A recent survey shows that journalists are only trusted by 13% of the population (doctors got 85%). A few of my classmates have already encountered hostility towards journalists when trying to do research – this has inhibited them from doing their work. Journalists need to be more trustworthy because it will help them communicate better and do their job. And they need to adhere to an ethical standard because they are in such a position of power they have the potential to destroy people’s lives.
But whilst there are PCC anf OFCOM codes of practice I think ethics cannot be enforced on people. I wish they could, but as you pointed out individuals draw the line where they want. But in my training so far I have been inspired by the teaching to uphold a high level of integrity when reporting and countless lecturers have told us you should never compromise your morals. Medical students receive lots of education in ethics so I think by encouraging journalists to think about ethics too it can be possible to up the level of trust.
i cant believe you would criticize this photographer. his image shows a powerful message that makes everyone who sees it want to help these people. that is what a great photographer should do. im sure he wanted to help but he has a obligation and burden to help more by photographing one. think of all the people who couldnt help but cry when they saw this and felt a need to donate to the charity funds. this photographer has helped many people with this photo.
The Journalist, the Vulture, and the Child
Wednesday April 12, 2006
The haunting photo of a vulture stalking an emaciated Sudanese girl who’d collapsed on her way to a feeding station won photographer Kevin Carter a Pulitzer Prize in 1994. Carter also become notorious for sticking to the journalistic principle of being an observor and not getting involved — he left after taking his photo and neither he, nor the New York Times, which first published the photo on 26 March 1993, knew what happened to her. (Looking at the photo, it’s hard to imagine a pleasant ending.) A few months later after collecting his Pulitzer, Carter committed suicide, the violence he’d encountered in his life as a journalist, especially in South Africa, becoming too much to live with.
This Journalist couldn’t get involved as any help to refugees would have comprimised the rules to which he was allowed to enter the country. That was simply to report. They were in a civil war and any intervention would have comprimised any access that any journalists would have had to their country. That’s why after a year he killed himself after winning an award for this picture.