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All I Needed to Know About Photojournalism Ethics,
I Learned in Kindergarten !
Presented by Bradley Wilson, Ph.D. Midwestern State University
Ethics: An Age-Old Discussion
Ethical issues may pit the photographer’s professional duties against his or her own conscience. Ken Kobré
Discussion on ethics
“Every day, every edition, we face challenging decisions. We know that many of the calls we make in a few minutes on deadline can have a lifelong effect for someone, particularly a subject of a story. We consider it an awesome responsibility.” David Boardman Seattle Times
Discussion on ethics
“Although many editors found the images [of 9/11] disturbing, the overwhelming reason for publishing them was that they added to the visual storytelling about what happened during and after the terrorists attacks. Many editors believed that readers needed to be exposed to the disturbing images in order to fully understand the story of the day.” Renee Martin Kratzer and Brian Kratzer “How Newspapers Decided to Run Disturbing 9/11 Photos” Newspaper Research Journal, Winter 2003
Digital Ethics: Evolving Standards
One of the major problems we face as photojournalists is the fact that the public is losing faith in us. Our readers and viewers no longer believe everything they see. John Long
Sports Illustrated, December, 2012
Never
Hard news
Feature
Illustration
Always
0 10 20 30 40 50
19.17
25.83
11.67
2.5
40.83
22.64
29.25
11.32
1.89
34.91
27.76
30.6
8.54
2.49
30.6
Professionals (n=285)College students/advisers (n=108)High school students/advisers (n=120)
Sports Illustrated, on Nov. 26, 2012, altered the color of the jerseys in the football players at Baylor University. In which of the following photograph types would you accept this computer editing change?
Percent
Boston: Another Study in TragedyI always wondered what it would be like when I see photographers covering this stuff all over the world. It’s haunting to be a journalist and have to cover it. I don’t ever want to have to do that again. John Tlumacki !!
Photo by John Tlumacki
Boston: Another Study in TragedyResearch questions:
What are the ethical standards both in terms of what can and should be documented and published and how? How far is too far when it comes to the digital manipulation of spot news images?
Yes
No
0 25 50 75 100
12.3
87.7
12.94
87.06
Professionals (n=285)Non-photographers (n=122)
Online, huffingtonpost.com ran the image with no alteration. Was this acceptable?
Percent
t = 0.24 p > 0.05 no difference between professionals and non-photographers
Yes
No
0 25 50 75 100
11.48
88.52
14.04
85.96
Professionals (n=285)Non-photographers (n=122)
The Philadelphia Inquirer was one of the many news publications that chose to crop the image as it was used on page 1 of the April 16 print edition. Was this acceptable?
Percent
t = 0.88 p > 0.05 no difference between professionals and non-photographers
Yes
No
0 25 50 75 100
41.32
58.68
57.25
42.75
Professionals (n=285)Non-photographers (n=122)
Online, the atlantic.com ran the image with Jeff Bauman’s face blurred. Was this acceptable?
Percent
t = 4.41 p < 0.001* significant difference between professionals and non-photographers
Yes
No
0 25 50 75 100
23.48
76.52
31.1
68.9
Professionals (n=285)Non-photographers (n=122)
In addition, theatlantic.com later added a disclaimer. Should the website have added this disclaimer?
Percent
t = 1.07 p > 0.05 no difference between professionals and non-photographers
Yes
No
0 25 50 75 100
11.57
88.43
8.07
91.92
Professionals (n=285)Non-photographers (n=122)
Online, huffingtonpost.com ran this image with no alteration. Was this acceptable?
Percent
t = 1.14 p > 0.05 no difference between professionals and non-photographers
Yes
No
0 25 50 75 100
66.09
33.91
81.79
18.21
Professionals (n=285)Non-photographers (n=122)
In print, the New York Daily News ran an altered version of the image with the leg injury on the left removed. Was this acceptable?
Percent
t = 3.33 p > 0.001 significant difference between professionals and non-photographers
0
1
2
3
4
5
Cropping Color correction Removing distracting elements Removing larger objects Adding/Removing people Moving objects
AllHigh SchoolCollegeProfessional
Q20
How appropriate is it to do the following types of computer adjustment to news photographs that appear on the front page or in the news section of your local daily newspaper?
0 = never 3 = sometimes 5 = always
0
20
40
60
80
100
92.4495.45
Professional Non-photographers
Q21
“Accurate representation is the benchmark of our profession. We believe photojournalistic guidelines for fair and accurate reporting should be the criteria for judging what may be done electronically to a photograph.”
t = 2.06 p < 0.05* significant difference between professionals and college; small effect size
0
20
40
60
80
100
85.95
95.04
Professionals Non-photographers
Q23
“Adhere to the principle of reproducing photos that represent reality. Documentary news and feature photos should not be manipulated.”
t = 3.84 p < 0.001* significant difference between professionals and college
0
20
40
60
80
100
66.1
83.51
Professionals Non-photographers
Q24
“Altered images should be obviously false to the reader.”
t = 3.96 p < 0.001* significant difference between professionals and college
0
20
40
60
80
100
91.7495.77
Professionals Non-photographers
Q25
“Any manipulations should simply include routine cropping, color correction to restore the color balance to what appeared in the actual scene, or dodging/burning to improve reproduction quality.”
0
20
40
60
80
100
85.7190.32
Professionals Non-professionals
Q26
“Readers should know that an imagewas altered.”
0
20
40
60
80
10095.04
99.29
Professionals Non-photographers
Q27
“The highest and strictest standards should be applied to hard-news photographs.”
0
20
40
60
80
100
40.84
17.65
35.1431.95
All High School College Professional
Q29
“Do you have any company policies that would limit the amount of alteration in an image?”
• Non-photographers are more tolerant of digital manipulation than professional photographers.
• Manipulation should be obviously false. • Manipulation of spot news images should be
minimized and generally kept to what it takes to improve reproduction quality.
• Editors are gatekeepers but in light of evolving technology, street photojournalists need to be trained as editors.
Conclusions
Conclusions
• Companies, colleges and universities and schools need to discuss and to adopt policies regarding photojournalistic ethics — in advance of incidents.
• Discussing all the facets of ethical decision making is still a worthy endeavor.
Conclusions
While specific ethics changes from profession to profession, their foundation does not. The foundation is basic, simple honesty, the kind you learn in kindergarten: Don’t tell us stories about things that didn’t happen. Don’t show us things that don’t exist. Ben Brink |“Question of Ethics: Where Does Honesty inPhotojournalism Begin?” News Photographer | July 1988
By Bradley Wilson, PhD Midwestern State University
Twitter: @bradleywilson09
©2014
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