Media ethics case study 8 d
- 1. Above the fold: balancing newsworthy photos with community standards By:Taylor O’Neill
- 2. On Nov. 10, 1993, Alan McGuire held his 2-year-old daughter and wife hostage at knife point in their family home in Springfield, Oregon. Both father and daughter were dead by the end of the standoff, and photographer Andy Nelson captured some photos of the aftermath.
- 3. The following remarks are from an interview conducted with Jim Godbold, the assistant managing editor of the Eugene Register-Guard at the time. The call came over the police scanner around noon, photographer Andy Nelson and police reporter Janelle Hartman went to the area to report. When we arrived, the police were setting up a perimeter to keep people away from the scene. Than a burst of flames came from inside the house, and the police immediately decided to go inside the home. Before the police made it inside, Alan McGuire, hurled himself out of the window on fire.
- 4. His wife had escaped by this point, and told police that her daughter, Shelby was still in the house. Once the police busted down the front door, they discovered a 2-year-old, Shelby McGuire, sitting upright on the couch with a plastic grocery bag over her head, which had been duct taped around her neck. A police officer ripped the bag off her head, and sprinted out of the house with her. At that moment, Andy Nelson, snapped a photo of the limp child. Alan captured a photo of the 2-year-old receiving mouth-to-mouth with a background of Alan McGuire’s charred body in the front lawn.
- 5. The photos snapped by Andy Nelson.
- 6. The condition of Shelby was unknown at the scene. Eugene Register-Guard has a general rule that photographs of dead children are not run. The newspaper began to discuss the policy and possible reactions from the community. Ultimately, it was decided that the story was an expectation to the rule, and the photos would be run.
- 7. “The public response to the publication of the Shelby McGuire photograph was unprecedented in my 22 years in journalism and unprecedented at this newspaper” (Godbold). From the moment the newspaper was available, at 6 a.m., the publicati0n received 450 phone calls. By 7:45 in the morning, Jim Godbold had 31 voicemails on his personal phone.
- 8. Anger stemmed from multiple beliefs. Some felt the photo was published as a way to sell newspapers. Others felt it was not fair to the surviving mother and brother of Shelby to wake up to their deceased sister/daughter on the front page of a newspaper. Another argued it was inappropriate for the kind of newspaper the Register-Guard was recognized as. Children were seeing this newspaper at the breakfast table, forcing parents to answer the tough question of “how is the little girl?” Lastly, people with a personal connection to domestic violence were angered and pained.
- 9. Godbold says the publication was out of touch with a large number of it’s readers, which is why the publication at the time felt the photo was ethical to print. He follows up that statement with if a similar situation was presented “we would absolutely not do it the same way that we did it in the Shelby McGuire case” (Godbold).
- 10. Garry Bryant, a staff photographer with the Deseret News of Salt Lake City writes this disclaimer: ”What society needs to understand is that photographers act and shoot instinctively. We are not journalists gathering facts.We are merely photographers snapping photos” (1987, 34). Kant’s Categorical imperative: Don’t deceive a trusting audience with manipulated reality and don’t offend an unsuspecting audience with your gritty reality.
- 11. Violation of SPJ Code of Ethics: Show compassion for those who may be affected adversely by news coverage. Use special sensitivity when dealing with children and inexperienced sources or subjects. Violation of Post Toasties Test: The photos are not appropriate for the breakfast table, and parents even called with this exact complaint.
- 12. Facts • The photos of Shelby McGuire were published. • The public was very angered. Values • SPJ Code of Ethics • Invasion of privacy Principles • Communitarianism: the community deserves to know about the incident • Kant’s Categorical Imperative: the audience was offended by the gritty photo Loyalties • Andy Nelson was loyalty to the newspaper.
- 13. Look at the photos that accompany the text.The photo of the officer carrying out Shelby McGuire ran in full color above the fold, two-thirds of the page wide and 6 inches tall. Does a photo of that size over-sensationalize the story? Ø The photo is absolutely over-sensationalized if it is printed in a big size and color. In a large photo of color, the marks from the duct tape may be visible, or her pale skin from being dead. It would make the photo even more horrific. In addition, if an identical issue is printed in the center of a newspaper using a small black and white image; the issue is not as widely known.
- 14. The photo of Sergeant Swenson’s attempt to resuscitate Shelby ran below the fold in a small two-column photo.Why do you think the decision was made to run this photo smaller and lower? Ø The photo of Shelby being carried out limp is more sensational. It catches the attention of readers being on the front cover. Also, it is not clear what is happening in the photo. At first glance, it looks like a man is bending down kissing her.The other photo is clear that the child is not okay.
- 15. Does the fact that Shelby died influence your decision on whether to run the photos? If so, in what ways? Ø Since the child is died, and it is unknown if she was dead or not at the time the photo was taken; the photo should not have been run.The news organization has a rule that they do not print the dead bodies of children, yet they have no idea if she was dead or not when the photo was taken since the police declined to comment. However, the newspaper still ran the photo and acted in an unethical manner.
- 16. Critique the argument that these photos should be shown because they illustrate the type of tragedy that law enforcement officers are often called upon to handle. Ø The job of law enforcement officers is to respond to emergency situations.The photos show the officers doing their job in an emergency as it attributes the real drama of the job.The first photo shows the cop carrying the child out of the home, and the second shows him trying to save her with mouth-to-mouth.The actions of the police are not the business of the public and should not be posted in the newspaper. People can use their knowledge of the jobs of cops and infer the events that happened. It is not necessary for the photos to be shown.
- 17. § Would you have called the newspaper with a complaint about the photo? § Did the newspaper know Shelby was actually dead in the photo since when they asked law enforcement they refused to answer? § Would you have printed the photos? § Is it the public’s right to see the photos? § Is this a good picture or bad taste? § “Someone else’s misfortune is often good fortune for the photojournalist,” (Patterson,Wilkins, Painter, 2019, p.57). Do you agree with this statement?