Disturbing photos

A photo that helps tell a story is usually always useful in the world of journalism.

But I don't believe that showing a picture of someone who is committing suicide is appropriate at all. The only picture that I would use is 1a. Although we all know that he is about to commit suicide the gun is still pointed another way and it still helps tell the story. I believe that the rest of the pictures are not appropriate because they directly capture him when he is about to commit suicide and right after. We have to keep in mind that this man has a family. As journalists we should always know where to draw the line. I would find it emotionally disturbing to see a photo of a family member under those circumstances. As a journalist, I don't believe that it is ethically correct to use the last three photos.

In regards to the second set of photos, it was very hard to make a decision.

I'm not sure if I would publish the first one because there is a dead animal. This dog was part of a family and I just think that it would be really disturbing not only for the family for for the thousands or even millions of people viewing this photo that value animals in the same way they value human beings.

The second one shows a family grieving after their son was killed in a drowning accident. This is probably one of the most disturbing from this set of photos. I would NEVER EVER publish a photo of a a human being right after their life has been taken away, nevertheless a child. The only way that I would run this picture is if the dead body was cropped out of it.

With that being said, I would not publish the third one with the employee of a newspaper’s printing plant either. I believe that there are other ways to tell a story. Words themselves are powerful, imagine how powerful and how influential photos are, especially those distributed through the media.

It's really hard to make a decision on the fourth one, of the boy that fell in the spiked fence. At first I was not really sure if I should or would publish a picture like this, but after giving it much though I think I would.

And last but not least, I would not publish the picture of the woman who's clothes was torn off. This picture is very disturbing. I could see why others would publish this picture but I personally wouldn't.