Lecture 9: Photojournalism
Photos can be more subjective than words: illusion of objectivity concealing a mass of subjective decisions. Image can be manipulated at time of shooting or afterwards in darkroom and by editors.
Every newspaper article longer than 12 inches is accompanied by a photo or graphic. It's considered a point of entry: a way to draw the reader into the story.
First ethical dilemma: to shoot or not to shoot? Circles of intimacy theory is a good way to evaluate ethical implications of each such situation.
Gary Bryant of Desert New has four questions to guide him:
Counterbalancing rule: shoot first, edit later.
Technology and the speed of processing images has complicated the ethical landscape for photojournalists.
Journalists need to consider informational, emotional and psychological impact of the image. Also, whose rights are being invaded, and if the informational and emotional impact out weight the invasion of rights. Also, does the image tell the essence of the story?
Staging photos: big ethical no-no. Sometimes, though, it's unavoidable.
Grip and grins, posed shots of famous figures. Also acceptable in "arty" shots for a features section. ("Mirror" vs. "window" images -- they show something idealized instead of try to capture objective reality)
Manipulation of images is another area of ethical debate. Changing an image can undermine the truth. Also makes people less trusting of images.
Even primitive manipulation such as cropping can change an image's meaning. Eg. the publicity shot used for advertisements of "The Graduate."
Eyewash: use of stock images to provide background or context for a TV story. Can lead to trouble if a person's image is used without permission for such a purpose and the story is negative, thus making an unfortunate and erroneous connection between person and story.