“I have learned that ethics is the study of how people behave and how they should behave."
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| Image No. 1. "New Orleans, 1978. "Boom" After a tragic grain elevator explosion, workers blew up the structure to make it safer. I like the coincidental face formed by lumber in the center." Caption and photograph by Paul Martin Lester (Lester, n.d.). |
What is Photojournalism?
Understanding the ethics of photojournalism depends on the relationship between the story and its associated photograph. “If the caption on the photograph is incorrect, the whole production is in doubt. Photographs are often ambiguous; unless the words clarify the situation and put it into perspective, the picture could easily be misunderstood (Fulton, 1988, 244).” The text becomes vital to understanding the message, so much so that, “the combination of text and photographs is, indeed, the guiding principle and single most important characteristic of photojournalism (Carlebach, 1992, 1).” Therefore, “picture content matters less than the manner in which the picture is used (Carlebach, 1992, 1-2).”
In the Beginning…
Photojournalism grew alongside--and even inspired--many developments in photographic technology. For example, “some historians consider the adoption, during the first decades of the twentieth century, of the halftone process of reproducing photographs to mark the real beginning of photojournalism in America (Carlebach, 1992, 3).” As the value of adding photographs in journalism increased, American periodicals created new ways to print photographs with type, from steel engravings, etchings, mezzotints, wood engravings, to actual photographs, and photomechanical gravure processes (including Woodburytypes, for example) (Carlebach, 1992, 3). News photographers officially earned the distinction of ‘photojournalists’ when “the proliferation of photographically illustrated newspapers and the development of small cameras and gelatin-based roll film created a national market for news pictures after 1900 (Carlebach, 1992, 2).”
In fact, photographers spotted the value in using photographs to illustrate what was happening in the news early on. Victorian customers purchased stereoscopic views of “the terrible effects of a man-made or natural disaster (Carlebach, 1992, 4)” to put in their parlor. Early photojournalism used Civil War battlefields and America’s expansion to educate viewers “about events and places they could not see for themselves (Carlebach, 1992, 4).” Journalists soon made use of photography as a form of proof, “in contrast to serialized fiction and hand-drawn images, which dominated magazines initially, photography was used to communicate the news (Stolarski, 2011, 561).” Finally, photojournalism has been credited with marking “the birth of a modern mass media, one dominated increasingly by photography and capable of drawing millions of spectators into an artificial reality, which had the power to inspire real-world actions (Stolarski, 2011, 561).”
What is it about photography that sells news stories? Stolarski (2011) notes, “the immediacy of photography and the visceral reactions it evoked, so unlike the neutral language of print journalism, made news magazines both immensely popular with readers and highly profitable publishing ventures (561).” In short, subscribers liked it.
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| Image No. 2. “Credibility. Responsibility. These words give us the right to call photography a profession rather than a business.” -- Journalist Howard Chapnick as quoted in Fulton (1988) page 246. Chapnick headed Black Star, “a leading worldwide picture agency based in Manhattan (The New York Times Company, 1996).” This photograph is part of the Black Star collection. CAPTION: "ALABAMA Police dogs attack demonstrators in Birmingham, 1963." |
Photojournalism is a Professional Occupation
If we consider that photojournalism is a profession, like the medical field, then we understand there is an organization with over-arching ethics. There are, in fact, two organizations in photojournalism: The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), founded 1909; and the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), founded in 1946. Additionally, the 1947 international meeting of the Hutchins Commission, which was a result of concerns during WWII and the media, developed five ethical tenets: (1) the media should provide a truthful, comprehensive and intelligent account of the day's events in a context which gives them meaning; (2) the media should serve as a forum for the exchange of comment and criticism; (3) the media should project a representative picture of the constituent groups in the society; (4) the media should present and clarify the goals and values of the society; and (5) the media should provide full access to the day's intelligence (in quotes, Singer, 2006).
Organizations create standards within the profession to help provide accountability. For example, “the SPJ code of ethics instructs journalists to be accountable to their readers, show compassion for those who may be affected adversely by news coverage, and tell of the diversity and magnitude of the human experience boldly (SPJ, 1996). (Mortensen, 2014, PROFESSIONAL ETHICAL VALUES OF PHOTOJOURNALISTS section, para. 3).” Tenets like these also create guidelines, or principles to which aspiring photojournalists want to adhere and journalist organizations require membership from their hires. NPPA’s ethical code is more specific, calling “for truth, accuracy, and verification, resisting staged-photo opportunities and not altering a photograph's content (NPPA, 2013) (Mortensen, 2014, PROFESSIONAL ETHICAL VALUES OF PHOTOJOURNALISTS section, para. 2).” Additionally, photojournalists undergo professional training, informally in an organization’s program or more formally through educational institutions. Overall, they “have the autonomy to exercise professional news judgment, profess to abide by a code of ethics, place emphasis on public service, and have a professional culture (Beam, 1993).” (Mortensen, 2013, Photojournalism as a Profession section, para. 1).”
So what are the ethics of photojournalism?
The Hutchins Commission “stated that the freedom that the press enjoys necessitates an obligation of responsibility toward the society it serves (Hutchins, 1947; Peterson, 1956). (Mortensen, 2014, Professional Ethical Values of Photojournalists section, para. 3).” Ethics rely a great deal on that word, responsibility. The responsibility “to see, to understand, and to share the story of history as it happens (Fulton, 1988, 249);” to “seek truth and report it by verifying the accuracy of information. (Mortensen, 2014, Professional Ethical Values of Photojournalists section, para. 2);” to do “meaningful stories about social conditions in your community (Lester, 2005, 140);” to make sure “viewers aren't bullied or coerced into an emotion that they wouldn't naturally have (Kratochvil, 2001);” to avoid the “unethical alteration of photographs (Fulton, 1988, 246);” and to “treat subjects with respect and dignity and represent topics comprehensively and accurately (National Press…, 2012).” With all of these responsibilities, how can a photojournalist weigh their ethics in the field, then again at publication time, and then again after publication?
In an interview with David Folkenflik, an NPR media correspondent, he said “there aren't hard and fast rules [for photojournalists] (Shapiro, 2012),” it’s an issue of weighing public good with the “private pain that's incurred and also what's the effect on people who are going to see this. After all, if you're putting this on the front page of the New York Post, you're ensuring that people and schoolchildren of, you know, all the neighborhoods in New York are going to see this on the newsstand (Shapiro, 2012).” In the end, the best guideline is to weigh the outcomes with the gains and only use a news image because “it moves people to care and that it helps people to safely navigate through their daily lives. The greater the potential harm caused by showing the photograph or videotape, the greater benefit it should also have for people (Lester, 2005, 141).”
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| Image No. 3. Umar Abbasi, photographer. Ki-Suck Han (61) was pushed into the NYC subway tracks and killed. |
In their own words…. Photojournalists discuss ethics
“Well, the photo [see Image No. 3.] is impressed in my mind forever, along with many, you know, thousands of photos, of the tens of thousands of photos that I took. The entire experiences will never go away. So I mean, I feel sorry for the guy who took the picture because literally that image is going to be stained on his corneas forever (Shapiro, photojournalist caller named “John”, 2012).”
“I’ve taken pictures that I’ve wished I hadn’t; that’s why I edit. You can make anybody look bad--an instant in time can ruin a life every once in a while. [As photojournalists] we have a responsibility because we’re stopping time.” photojournalist Flip Schulke quoted in (Fulton, 1988, 244).
“For example there was a local story where a mother's daughter had died very tragically, and I was in a situation where it was a very personal moment where - between myself and the mom, and there were other photographers there. And I decided to step back and not take photos at this one particular time, and other photographers did. And the long of the short of that story is that later on, that ended up helping me out because the mother came to me and said, you know, I'm glad you didn't take my picture then. I really appreciate it. And it ended up opening up the story for me later on, where I was given access by the family when other photographers weren't (Shapiro, photojournalist caller named “Tony”, 2012).
“Cameras, it seems to me, are mind guided, and as a result, photographs made by people are never objective.” Michael Carlebach (1992), photojournalist (5).
The responsibility of the publisher
We’ve already identified in Stolarski’s article (2011) how profitable photojournalism is for publishers, but what ethical considerations does the publisher have? Is their only goal to build circulation? Some argue, “Publishing decisions by picture editors, whether about work by their own staff or from the AP, always hinge on a question of ethics… (Fulton, 1988, 244).” But what about the story where William Randolph Hearst, media mogul, created the Spanish American War?
An exchange of cablegrams between Hearst and his artistic minion, Frederic Remington, illuminates his tactics. Remington is supposed to have cabled Hearst at the Journal in New York after spending some weeks pursuing action in Cuba: “Everything is quiet. There is no trouble here. There will be no war. Wish to return. Remington.” Hearst’s reply to Remington in Havana; “Please remain. You furnish the pictures and I’ll furnish the war.” Apocryphal or not, it is easy to imagine Hearst iving similar instructions to his photojournalists. …. Hearst’s obsession with building circulation had as one of its outcomes the establishment of photojournalism as the appropriate activity for war coverage (Jussim, 1988, 47).
Is this the exception to the rule? Publishers also consider keeping their readership and their sponsors happy, in addition to increasing their circulation. That can, indeed, bring ethical considerations into the publisher’s day-to-day operations. So much so, that publishers sometimes feel the need to justify images at the time of their release. For example, Life magazine’s photograph of dead soldiers at Buna Beach, “the first picture of American war dead during World War II… the statement that accompanied the photograph made the argument that it was newsworthy because Americans must understand what war is and what other Americans were going through (Fulton, 1988, 245).”
One publisher brings up an interesting point about the flip-side of ethics, in that sometimes it is unethical NOT to publish an image because of the criticism they will receive in so doing.
But the decision to publish a disturbing photo like that is a more complicated decision. And as a publisher, you're asking questions about the journalistic purpose. When you have an image from a war zone, a famous image that we might compare to this image of this man about to die would be the girl stripping off her clothes after she has been covered in napalm in Vietnam, an image like that causes a lot of harm. It's an invasion of privacy to the people in the photo, and it's hurtful, harmful to the people who view the photo. But it has a broader journalistic purpose. It's meant to reveal something to the audience so that the audience can uphold their Democratic duties (Shapiro, 2012).
There seems to be an ethical guideline for publishers but it can best be understood by seasoned publishers: “If, for example, a photograph scheduled for publication is likely to cause viewers to be upset and the only justification mentioned is that it is “a hellova picture”— an aesthetic justification—that phrase does not provide the needed ethical grounding that is called for when someone complains. On the other hand, ethics can provide good reasons for publishing or airing images that readers and viewers find offensive (Lester, 2005, 139).”
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| Image No. 4. Sudan Famine by Kevin Carter. |
The responsibility of the photographer to the victim?
A
photographer is trained to take pictures. They are not professional
medics or firefighters or the police. But sometimes they find
themselves in life and death situations. Where there is time to react,
what should they do? Let’s look at the famous case of the Sudan famine
photo by Kevin Carter [See Image No. 4]:
Carter
did not take direct action to help the girl, although he reportedly
chased the bird away after taking the photograph and then waited until
the girl resumed her walk to the center (MacLeod, 1994). People
criticized Carter for taking pictures instead of trying to save the
girl, questioning why he had not carried her to the center and why he
had not fed her himself (Fallows, 1997). Winning the 1994 Pulitzer Prize
for feature photography aggravated the already severe controversy.
Critics questioned Carter's ethics. They accused him of adjusting his
lens to take full advantage of the little girl's suffering (Marinovich
& Silva, 2000; MacLeod, 1994). About two months after receiving his
Pulitzer Prize, Carter committed suicide in Johannesburg (Riper, 2000).
(Kim, 2013, Kevin Carter in Sudan Faces a Dilemma section, para. 1).
The
public felt strongly about both the image and the photographer.
There’s a “distinction between doing one's job and doing what's right
as a person (Kim, 2013, Reactions to Carter's Photograph through
In-Depth Interviews section, para. 6),” argued one respondent when
questioned about this photo. Another respondent, an unidentified fellow
journalist, said: “after a while, you become “hardened to it and
realize there is very little you individually can do and you just let
what happens happen (Kim, 2013, Reactions to Carter's Photograph through
In-Depth Interviews section, para. 9).”
To
judge ethics you cannot just call something bad, you need to “figure
out what should be done, given a set of circumstances (Lester, 2005,
139).” Identifying an ethical problem means defining the ethical
outcome. When Fulton (1988) describes the use of broad terms like
“fairness, truthfulness, privacy, decency, and responsibility--all broad
terms defined only when thought to have been abused (244),” you get a
sense of how nebulous identifying something as unethical can be.
Despite this, as viewers, we generally feel we know an unethical
photojournalist piece when we see it. I think the Carter case study is
particularly hard because the photographer did not need medical training
to understand the girl’s ailment (hunger) or to assist her (provide
food and shelter by getting her to the center). This is a case where we
knew the correct ethical outcome and I think that is why it bothers us
more than some other images, and perhaps why it bothered Carter so much
when he returned.
Kelly
McBride, senior faculty in ethical reporting at the Poynter Institute,
advises photojournalists “if you are in a situation where someone's
death is imminent or serious injury is imminent, and you are the most
qualified person to help, and you might be the most qualified person
because you're the closest person, or you're the only adult, or you
speak the proper language in order to intervene, you have a moral, a
human moral obligation to put down your camera and help out (Shapiro,
2012).” But isn’t a photographer’s job to capture the moment on film?
Are photojournalists observers, participants or catalysts to the events
they are photographing (Fulton, 1988, 245)? Could the event be staged
for the press or the presence of photographers inspire more violence
from those who wish to put on a show (Fulton, 1988, 245)?
Sometimes
a photojournalist’s first instinct is to use the camera, but in the
following case study, we find an example where this was not so. [See
Image No. 5]
Ralph Fossum, age nine, was trying to cross a busy street with his red wagon. He stepped off the curb but retreated. [Photojournalist] Seaman, on roving assignment, spotted him: “I was about to shout a warning to him and even considered getting out and helping him, but he made it back to the curb all right, so I drove on" (quoted in Leekley, 1978, p. 46). Three blocks away, Seaman heard a report on the police radio that a child had been killed at the intersection where he had seen Fossum. Seaman says, "I knew then..." (quoted in Leekley). Seaman returned to the scene to get his photograph: a medic walking away from a small, sheet-covered body, a policeman writing in a notebook and on the opposite curb, a small group of women and young children (Wischrnann, 1987, 71-2).
While decisions “about precisely when to take pictures are critical (Carlebach, 1992, 5)” and full of ethical debate, what about what happens to the photographs after publication? Photojournalist Antonin Kratochvil brings up a good point:
“There are photographers who create exhibitions and books from their photojournalistic images, but what is achieved is only sensationalism. One extreme moment after another is cobbled together and made to look as though it captures “life.” Having traveled to many of the world’s disaster areas and having seen extreme tragedy, I can attest that these moments do happen. But around them there is more to see and more that must be understood. There is more than the angry mob: There is the “why” and the “how” behind their actions (Kratochvil, 2001).”
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| Image No. 5. 1959 Pulitzer photograph of the body of 9-year old Ralph Fossum by Bill Seaman, staff photographer for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune |
Citizen journalists and changing technology
Professional photojournalists may have a code of ethics, but citizen journalists don’t. These people who “are these “roaming” citizens who are first on the scene, partaking in “accidental” or “random” acts of journalism (Mortensen, 2014, Introduction section, para. 1),” do not have a responsibility to the profession or their subject. “Citizen photojournalists often do not even self-identify as such…”Any sense of journalism is likely to be far from their mind” when they take and share their citizen journalism (Mortensen, 2014, Results Summary section, para. 1).” Additionally, citizen journalists in the internet age may not even have publishers to consider ethical dilemmas. How do we evaluate the ethical dilemma of these non-professionals?
First, ethical consideration for images seem to be on the decline. With the current practice of posting images online, professional images get equal placement with amateur snapshots. “Their professional photographs are posted on online news sites just as “cutest critter” pictures, personal shots, and other amateur visuals are posted on online news sites (Mortensen, 2013, The Effects of the Digital World on the Photojournalism Industry section, para. 2).” How is the public supposed to equate these images ethically? How do citizen journalists relate their images to ethics? Interestingly, in a study conducted by Tara Mortensen at the University of Southern Carolina, she found that “Professionals especially perceive themselves as more ethical with regard to staging and editing photographs [than amateurs] (mean differences are greater than 3). (Mortensen, 2014, Ethical Values of Citizen Photojournalists section, para. 1).”
How else has current technology affected photojournalism? What about computer alterations? Fred Ritchin, in Marilyn Stern’s essay (Dec. 1985) in the Photo District News says the threat
...is not in the technology but in the basic attitude that equates photojournalism with illustration….real exploratory journalism, in which you’re discovering things you don’t already know, then the computer isn’t as much of a threat because it can’t reveal those things. But if you’re already using photos to depict only what you want to depict, then why not use the computer to touch them up, or to manufacture them? (66).
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| Image No. 6. Alfredo Jaar Rwanda Project 1994-2000 |
In
this final example, a Chilean artist named Alfredo Jaar decided to
create an exhibit after becoming outraged during the Rwandan/Tutsi
genocide [See Image No. 6]. He took one photograph and piled it on a
table in the thousands, allowing people to view it up close through
microviewers. He called the traveling show the Rwanda Project 1994-2000.
What ethics apply to Jaar’s exhibit? Is he a citizen journalist? He
is not a photojournalist, but he is making an ethical statement:
“Jaar's [work] offers a kind of indictment' (Moller, 2009, A flash is
all we have: Alfredo Jaar section, para. 1).” I think Jaar’s work falls
under the publisher’s debate where it becomes unethical not to publish images that represented the genocide.
Why are ethics important?
Gaynor (2011) wrote about an Amazonian tribe in Brazil that was never before exposed to outside culture:
We
can’t go back 200 years and right the wrongs of the westward expansion.
But we can recognize now--having evolved a code of laws governing not
only the treatment of indigenous cultures but human rights in
general--that we can bring to bear a whole slew of values for the good
of everyone (14).
In
this example, the information can be got by other, more ethical means
than storming into camp with cadres of news photographers. “Possuelo's
team hoped to learn as much as possible about the flecheiros without
letting its presence be known, with the goal of helping prove to the
Brazilian government that the tribe should be protected from outside
contact (Gaynor, 2011, 14).” By applying ethics, we can gather
information without causing harm. Does that sound familiar? “First, do
no harm,” is the hippocratic oath that doctors must take. It is also
in NPPA, the photojournalist’s code of ethics; photographs "cause great harm if they are callously intrusive or are manipulated
(National Press…, 2012).”
REFERENCES
Carlebach, M. L. (1992). The origins of photojournalism in America. Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press.
Carlebach, M. (2012). Life in Black & White. Retrieved from http://www.michaelcarlebach.com/black-and-white.html
Fulton, M. (1988). Changing focus: The 1950s to the 1980s. In M. Fulton, Eyes of time: Photojournalism in America (pp.173-.275). Boston: Little, Brown.
Gaynor, Michael. (2011) Floating into “Green Hell.” Washingtonian Magazine, 47(1): 14.
Jussim, E. (1988). “The tyranny of the pictorial”: American photojournalism from 1880 to 1920. In M. Fulton, Eyes of time: Photojournalism in America (pp.173-.275). Boston: Little, Brown.
Kelly,
J. D. (2005). BOOK REVIEW: Handbook of Visual Communication: Theory,
Methods, And Media. Visual Communication Quarterly, 12(3/4), 255-257.
doi:10.1207/s15551407vcq1203&4_14
Kim,
Y., & Kelly, J. D. (2013). Photojournalist on the Edge: Reactions
to Kevin Carter's Sudan Famine Photo. Visual Communication Quarterly,
20(4), 205-219. doi:10.1080/15551393.2013.849980
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A. & Persson, M. (2001). Photojournalism and documentary
photography: They are identical mediums, sending different messages.
Nieman Reports, 15(3). Retrieved from
http://www.nieman.harvard.edu/reportsitem.aspx?id=101591
Leekley, J. & Leekley, S. (1978). Moments: The Pulitzer Prize Photographs. New York: Crown Publishers, Inc.
Lester, P. (2005). On mentors, ethics, war, and hurricanes. Visual Communication Quarterly, 12(3/4), 136-145. doi:10.1080/15551393.2005.9687453
Lester, P. M. (n.d.) News Work: New Orleans, 1978. Retrieved from http://commfaculty.fullerton.edu/lester/pictures/pictures.html
Moller, F. 2009. The looking/not looking dilemma.. Review of International Studies, 35: 781–794.
Monteath, P. et al. (2006). Book reviews. Australian Journal of Politics & History, 52(1): 131-171.
Mortensen,
T., & Keshelashvili, A. (2013). If Everyone with a Camera Can Do
This, Then What? Professional Photojournalists' Sense of Professional
Threat in the Face of Citizen Photojournalism. Visual Communication Quarterly, 20(3), 144-158. doi:10.1080/15551393.2013.820587
National Press Photographers Association. (2012). NPPA Code of Ethics. Retrieved from http://Web address https://nppa.org/code_of_ethics
Shapiro,
A. (Interviewer) & Folkenflik, D. & McBride, K. (Interviewees).
(2012). Documenting tragedy: The ethics of photojournalism [Interview
transcript]. Retrieved from National Public Radio Web site:
www.npr.org/2012/12/06/166666261/documenting-tragedy-the-ethics-of-photojournalism
Singer,
J. B. (2006). The Hutchins Commission for Freedom of the Press: Five
Requirements for the Media. Retrieved from:
http://www.uiowa.edu/~c019168/168s6online2b.html
Stolarski, C. (2011). Another Way of Telling the News. Kritika: Explorations In Russian & Eurasian History, 12(3), 561-590.
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New York Times Company. (1996, May 29). Howard Chapnick, 74, Photo
Agency Chief. New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/1996/05/29/nyregion/howard-chapnick-74-photo-agency-chief.html
Wischrnann, L. (1987). Dying on the Front Page: Kent State and the Pulitzer Prize. Journal Of Mass Media Ethics, 2(2), 67-74.
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