Fire Escape Photo Essay

It seems that what I have read about ethics and what I have reviewed about photojournalism definitely are intertwined. Lately, I feel that there is some more thought about what goes into the media then from years ago.  The media needs to take extra precautions now as we realize that a person’s life could be destroyed based on the coverage of their story. I don’t think that Stanley Forman purposely wanted to film tragedy and was just covering the local news; he had a drive to be on the scene. Forman probably was doing what he normally does and followed some firemen to the part of the fire where the action was.

         The ethics scale was about to be tipped when the thought of whether or not to publish this photo. The pros and cons were likely to battle each other and I could see a strong argument for each.  The media is always going to think of the value and spike in the market before they publish anything. This is coupled with looking at the media as a business and what could help the business is always is the back of their minds. Forman, I think was going to make a call for help, by posting this picture. This was going to be poured out to the masses and maybe faulty fire escapes would be more regulated. I see the big picture he had in mind. He had the foresight to know that this picture would bring awareness.  There is a value in a tragedy when it finally sheds light on an ongoing problem.  

After all the good that could be done from bringing attention to fire escapes, one is going to think, could he have helped the dying victim. How could he have not shown some immediate compassion for the young lady?  Did he ever think that the posting of this pic could do more harm than good?  Did his loyalty to the job stem from his schooling and training on how to just observe victims of distress? Forman, as well as other journalists, must make these decisions every day. Do you spare the viewing audience the grief or do you capture images that may have a twofold effect.  His though process must have been revolved around the bigger picture about fire escapes and how a faulty one could make someone fall off to their demise.  

It is not uncommon for a journalist to cover disasters, capture a story and rarely help victims. The big decision around this picture at the time was should they or should they not publish this photo. It was a decision that was made between the journalist and the reporting agency. Once posted, it received mixed reaction both for and against it. Looking back on all the good that this photo accomplished, I too, would have been in favor of its publication.

We all realize that journalists use phots to cover the news and sometimes they may not be so pleasant. I assume that journalists battle ethical decisions every day, coupled with knowing that they will be held accountable for their actions.

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