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When and how to run controversial photos online

The Web can be a great way to publish photos or information online that may be too sensitive for a newspaper's family-oriented audience.

The Week newspaper in Walworth County, Wis., decided to keep a photo of a murder suspect giving journalists the finger out of the newspaper because, as editor Dan Plutchak says, it isn't something he wants his kids to see in the Sunday paper. "Nevertheless, because it is a revealing element to our coverage of a big news story, it deserves to be seen," he writes. "Our solution was to publish the photograph in question on our Web site only, at theweekextra.com...

"The power of the image is so strong that it can't be ignored. It asks more questions than it answers, considering his parents are dead. One of the unanticipated consequence of the Internet, thankfully, is that newsworthy images like this can still be seen. The importance of the pictures like these add to the understanding of events in our communities won't be lost in a controversy of what is fit to been seen in the Sunday paper." This is a great way to use the Web to deliver information that might rub a newspaper's audience the wrong way. News sites should remember that kids read the Web as well -- and, in fact, are often more likely to do so than to read the print edition of a publication. The Web isn't just a dumping ground for information and photos not fit to print -- it's a legitimate medium to which news organizations should apply strong journalistic standards and practices.

It does make sense, at times, to use the Web to publish sensitive information that might offend readers -- by posting a warning and forcing readers to actively chose to look at such content, rather than accidentally see it while flipping through the pages of a newspaper or clicking on a Web site's front page. In this case, the editor did a great job of putting the photo in context and explaining the publication's decision -- but it might have been a good idea to force readers to click through an explicit warning to see the photo rather than post a large copy front-and-center on this page front-and-center.

A number of newspapers, for example, opted to not run photos in print of Saddam's sons after they were killed -- and instead posted them online, with a warning (see related entry and reader comments). Another good example is a slide show Slate produced about lap dancing, which the online magazine posted with a warning about the explicit nature of the photos (see related entry).

What do you think of The Week's decision? Post your opinions and read what other readers thought...

Discussion

6 comments about 'When and how to run controversial photos online'

I agree that the Web can be a good place to post newsworthy photos that require some sort of warning or more elaborate set-up than you get from just opening a newspaper. But two things strike me as odd about editor Dan Plutchak's decision. First, he doesn't want his kids to see a picture of someone flipping the bird but it's ok for them to read the story about a guy allegedly shooting his parents to death? Interesting... Also, as Plutchak pointed out the tightly cropped mug of the suspect that appeared in the paper, with his pleasant facial expression, doesn't express the reality of the situation. So it fails the main job of journalism, which is to tell the truth. If they wanted a picture in the paper but didn't want THE picture in the paper, they should have chosen another, more neutral one.

Posted by Rebecca at October 2, 2003 2:24 PM

How do i stop others from stealing and copy and pasting my own personal photographs from a personal website in which I've created? Its there any way I can put a block on the url??

Posted by dejah at January 29, 2004 1:04 PM

i agree, it should be in the newspaper

Posted by rachael at October 29, 2004 6:00 AM

i agree, it should be in the newspaper

Posted by rachael at October 29, 2004 6:00 AM

i agree, it should be in the newspaper

Posted by rachael at October 29, 2004 6:01 AM

E pluribus Unum

Posted by Texas holdem at November 16, 2004 6:37 AM

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