Tuesday, December 04, 2012

A picture of tragedy

Just on the heels of the Australian Metro ad, here comes a shocking story that happened in the New York subway system.

It turns out that a commuter was pushed off the platform by a deranged man. As the train approached, the man desperately tried to lift himself off the tracks.

He failed, though. And the man in this picture died after being run over by the on-coming train.


A freelance photographer was able to take a photo of this soon-to-be-grisly-scene, and the New York post made it their lead story. Needless to say, citizens and netizens were up in arms about it.

Why did the photographer take a photo instead of helping the man? Why did the NY post even buy or run this photo?

This became an issue of journalistic duties versus human compassion. Does the photojournalist fulfill his duty as a news man first? Does it take precedence over his being human? This is a topic that's sure to be fodder for our Journalism classes in the weeks to come.

Personally, I think the photographer should've helped him. Then this tragic photo would never have happened.

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