The ethics of Photojournalism

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The ethics of Photojournalism

• By
• Somrita
• Vicky C G P

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What is photojournalism?

• Photojournalism is a particular form of
  journalism (collecting, editing and presenting of
  news material for publication or broadcast) that
  creates images in order to tell a news story. It
  is now generally understood to refer only to
  still images, and in some cases to video used in
  broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is
  distinguished from other close branches of
  photography (like documentary photography, street
  photography or celebrity photography) by the
  quality of timeliness, objectivity and narrative.

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• If a photographer is asked to photograph a
  protest rally for a political cause supported by
  the photographer. The photographer wants the
  protesters to look as complimentary as possible.
  At the scene, there are 10 protesters out of an
  expected 500. The photographer has two technical
  choices use a wide-angle lens to show how few
  protesters are present or use a telephoto lens to
  focus on an individual who carries a sign. With
  such a technique, the size of the protest group
  in the photograph will be ambiguous.

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Photojournalism as a profession

• Cliff Edom (1976), one of the most well respected
  photojournalism educators in the United States,
  credited Frank Mott, dean of the Journalism
  School at the University of Missouri, with
  inventing the term, photojournalism. In 1942,
  Mott helped establish a separate academic
  sequence for photojournalism instruction. For the
  first time, photojournalism was considered "as
  important to the field of communication" as its
  word equivalent.

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Photojournalist

• A journalist tells stories. A photographer takes
  pictures of nouns (people, places and things). A
  photojournalist takes the best of both and locks
  it into the most powerful medium available-frozen
  images. Photojounalism basically captures the
  verb. But if we compare them with the journalist
  they have to face lots of problems.

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Categories of issues

• Hidden cameras,
• Posed or re-enacted shots
• Shockingly gruesome pictures
• Sexually offensive images
• Invasions of privacy
• Whether to take a picture or help a subject in
  trouble etc

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• Some of the important photographs

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Joe Rosenthal's Flag

• An Associated Press photographer, 33-year-old Joe
  Rosenthal, made three photographs atop Suribachi,
  a Japanese observation post on the island of Iwo
  Jima in 1945. His first picture became the most
  reproduced photograph in history and won for him
  a Pulitzer Prize. His second picture, although
  similar to the first, did not capture a dramatic
  moment and was forgotten by history. His third
  photograph became the source of accusations that
  the first photograph had been set up

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• The most reproduced photograph in history

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Vietnam War 1968

• Huynh Cong Ut's photograph of Kim Phuc and other
  children injured in an accidental napalm attack

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Vietnam War 1968

• Eddie Adams' photo of General Nguyen Loan, the
  chief of police for the city of Saigon shooting a
  Viet Cong assassin in the head.

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From the code of ethics of the NPPA

• Treat all subjects with respect and dignity. Give
  special consideration to vulnerable subjects and
  compassion to victims of crime or tragedy.
  Intrude on private moments of grief only when the
  public has an overriding and justifiable need to
  see.

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Chronological list of a few famous cases

• Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, and Fidel Castro
  routinely indulged in photographic manipulation
• 1982 National Geographic cover

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Bhopal Gas Tragedy
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1994 cover of Time magazine featuring OJ Simpson
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• TIME was making an editorial statement, not
  reporting the news.
• They presented what looked like a real photograph
  and it turned out not to be real the public felt
  deceived, and rightly so. By doing this, TIME
  damaged their credibility and the credibility of
  all journalists.

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From the code of ethics of the NPPA

• Be complete and provide context when
  photographing or recording subjects. Avoid
  stereotyping individuals and groups. Recognize
  and work to avoid presenting ones own biases in
  the work.
• While photographing subjects do not intentionally
  contribute to, alter, or seek to alter or
  influence events.
• Editing should maintain the integrity of the
  photographic images content and context. Do not
  manipulate images or add or alter sound in any
  way that can mislead viewers or misrepresent
  subjects.

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Kevin Carters photograph of Sudan Famine
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Gujarat Riots 2002
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Gujarat Riots 2002

• Qutubuddin Ansari pleads for his life in a
  photograph that became the face of faceless
  masses affected by the Gujarat Riots

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Khushboos Maximus Affair
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• 2006 August Adnan Hajjs doctored photographs
  show up on Reuters

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• Adnan Hajjs second doctored photograph
• Also improperly captioned

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Examples of staged photographs
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From the NPPAs code of ethics

• Photojournalists and those who manage visual news
  productions are accountable for upholding the
  following standards in their daily work
• Be accurate and comprehensive in the
  representation of subjects.
• Resist being manipulated by staged photo
  opportunities.
• While photographing subjects do not intentionally
  contribute to, alter, or seek to alter or
  influence events.
• Do not accept gifts, favors, or compensation from
  those who might seek to influence coverage.
• The coverage of the Israel Lebanon conflict gave
  rise to the term fauxtography (trivia,not in
  the code of ethics)

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• 2006 November Vasundhara Raje Kiran Mazumdar
  Lip lock

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• 2009 February Vanity Fairs photograph of Heath
  Ledger and Christopher Nolan

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Credibility

• Journalists have only one thing to offer the
  public and that is credibility. Credibility is
  the only thing that enables journalism to be
  called a profession and not a business
• Credibility - some questions to ask
• In what Context is the photo being used?
• Is the photograph a Fair and Accurate
  Representation of the information being
  presented?
• Does this photograph Deceive the reader?
• All of the above are John Longs ideas NPPA
  Ethics Co-Chair and Past President in 1999

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Classic Ethical Case Study

• A photographer is assigned to cover a
  fundamentalist organisations demonstration in a
  city park. When he arrives, a police officer is
  speaking to a crowd of newsmen saying it would be
  a good idea if they left. He says, "Some
  fundamentalists are going to be staging a
  counter-demonstration and we're afraid the
  presence of the press will encourage violence."
  Some of the newsmen leave but the photographer
  stays. Violence does erupt and the photographer
  is later awarded the Pulitzer Prize for his
  images depicting the fighting.

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Some questions related to the case study

• Should a photographer stay at the scene of a
  demonstration despite his presence possibly
  inciting violence?
• Should a photographer give up news reporting
  responsibilities because of the recommendation of
  a police office?
• What is more important? truth telling or law and
  order.

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Incidents that can be discussed

• Abu gharib
• Somalia
• Iraq invasion
• Gujarat Riots
• Veerappans dead body