Electronic Journalism - Ethics of Photojournalism

== Photojournalism ==
Electronic Journalism

“Modern life is heading to this strange place where everything is a prepresentation of a representation and nothing is real.â€? (Attanassio, P, cited in Sanders, K, 2003 : 53)

With the advent of the postmodern world, come major technological developments in journalism. In particularly photojournalism is one aspect of the profession which is effected greatly by digital and satellite technology. While the benefits of these new technologies can clearly be seen in everyday life when we read a newspaper or watch the news on television and see live images from around the globe, the adverse affects of this new media technology are also obvious. The temptation to use new media technology to change or ‘doctor’ images to make them more newsworthy or hard hitting raises some of the greatest ethical concerns in the field of journalism.

As Ron Smith points out in the fifth edition of his book Groping for Ethics in Journalism, photographers often lie in the way in which they capture their pictures, for example; they may ask people to pretend to talk on the telephone or engage in some other activity which captures the event being covered in the story. When doing this most editors assume the public realize these are posed pictures. Smith notes that while these practices are usually harmless, photojournalists are still “wading into ethical quicksandâ€?. (Smith R, 2003 : 145) More serious ethical concerns arise however when new media technologies are thrown into the mix. “Computers today can so competently change photographic images that even experts cannot separate the real ones from the fakes.â€? (Smith R, 2003 : 148) Smith gives this example of staff members at National Geographic magazine:

“(They) had a great picture of a camel in the foreground and a pyramid in the background. But the picture couldn’t be cropped so that both the camel and the pyramid would be on the magazine’s cover. The staff solved the problem by using a photo-imaging computer to move the pyramid to make it fit.â€? (Smith R, 2003 : 148)

An even more serious case of image manipulation occurred while football player O.J. Simpson was standing trial for the murder of his ex-wife. Both Time and Newsweek had the same cover: the mug shot taken of Simpson when he was arrested:

“The Simpson on the Time cover appeared to be much more sinister than Newsweek’s O.J. Time had darkened his face and made subtle changes in his features… many ere offended that the magazine would tamper with reality in covering such a volatile story. Some saw racial overtones in the handling of the photo.â€? (Smith R, 2003 : 149)

Karen Sanders notes in her text Ethics and Journalism, that digital technology makes it infinitely easier to doctor images and infinitely harder to detect such manipulation. (Sanders K, 2003 : 54) The public’s need to see live or timely images in the news has tempted photojournalists to breach their ethics and use new technology to manipulate photographs they have taken from as far away as Iraq or as nearby as a local football game.

Bibliography

1. Sanders, K, 2003 Ethics and Journalism Sage Publications, London

2. Smith, R, 2003 Groping for Ethics in Journalism Iowa State Press, Iowa

Brigid Andersen 14:21, 21 Oct 2004 (EST)