Reading Summary #2: Ethics of Disaster Photography

http://carltonblogwork.blogspot.com/2012/11/ethical-issues.html

Ethics of Disaster Photography in the Age of Social Media (ESMG 4200)

By Ray Huntzinger

Reference:

Hawking, T. (2013, April). Ethics of disaster photography in the age
of social media. Flavorwire. Retrieved on September 13, 2013, from
http://flavorwire.com/385270/the-ethics-of-disaster-photography-in-the-age-of-social-media/

Theme:

The theme of the article was a discussion on whether or not the news
media is acting ethically when they show graphic photographs of
victims during a disaster, especially when social media has no
restraints on ethical depictions.

Summary:

--In the past media outlets were able to decide which photographs were
acceptable and tasteful for public viewing.

--The advent of the internet, phone cameras, and social media outlets
has ensured that nearly any incident of consequence will be documented
by photographs and subsequently distributed on social media outlets.

--Extremely disturbing photographs during 911 prompted discussion on
what sorts of photographs are acceptable for release by media outlets.

--Media professionals disagree on whether or not the media is ethical
when they publish very graphic photographs.

--One line of thinking from media professionals is that the
questionable images will be available through social media outlets
regardless of media interference; therefore, the media may as well
publish photographs to tell the story.

--Other media professionals feel that it is the ethical responsibility
for media outlets to censor photographs to protect the public from
unnecessarily graphic or disturbing images.

--Finally, the article compares opinions on whether the abundance of
graphic photographs available to the public make the public "numb" to
a disaster or create traumatic stressors to the public at large.

Application to the lesson topic:

One component of the lesson topic is the responsibility of the media
to comply with a certain set of journalistic ethics. Whether or not
media outlets are acting ethically when they portray all available
photographs or acting unethically by holding back photographic
information is debated in the article. The article also debates how
these images affect the mental welfare of the public. Both of these
discussions are directly related to how the media interacts with the
public and emergency responders which is a focus of the lesson topic.

Application to emergency services:

The article is directly related to emergency services because it
emphasizes the importance of social media in our society, especially
in terms of disaster photography. The speed and level at which social
media distributes information and photographs can directly affect how
the public perceives emergency services during disaster response; in
other words, photographs can either make emergency services look
effective or appear to be inept.

Journalism Ethics

Ashley Burningham

Reference:
Schminke, M. (2009). EDITOR'S COMMENTS: THE BETTER ANGELS OF OUR NATURE--ETHICS AND INTEGRITY IN THE PUBLISHING PROCESS. Academy Of Management Review, 34(4), 586-591. doi:10.5465/AMR.2009.44882922

Theme:
While there are clear ethical standards for journalists, they aren't formally audited and many of them are unethical.

Summary:
- Journalism isn't monitored by a formal auditing process.
- Work depends on foundation of individual professionalism and responsibility.
- Ethics = fairness
- Reporters use "I didn't know" excuse.
- Some reporters have a formal review that evaluates theorizing, analysis, and conclusions, but it isn't common.
- Some journalists are unaware of ethical standards.
- Academy of Management Code of Ethics identifies both general principles and specific standards.
- Three principles: 1. responsibility 2. Integrity 3. Respect for people's rights and dignity
- Includes human relations, privacy, public statements, research and publication, and ascribing to the code of ethics
- No plagiarism
- Not all journalists are ethical.
- Submit papers similar to old rejected ones
- Serendipity in identifying problematic discovery
- Regular for experienced authors to violate
- Most ethical violations are intentional.
- Plausible deniability= ignorant/innocent
- Wide variety of unethical actions

Application to Lesson Topic:
The lesson this week had to do with ethical components of media coverage. This article discusses the ethical standards for journalists and describes possible excuses for unethical actions by journalists. It also notes that many experiences journalists intentionally practice unethically.

Application to Emergency Services:
It is important to understand the entire picture revolved around journalism. It is important to understand that not all journalists are intentionally unethical. While journalists can make the job of emergency responders more difficult, it is important to understand that they are only doing their job. We should strive to have a rapport with journalists to avoid unnecessary and unwanted media attention.

Divergence of Duty: Differences in Legal and Ethical Responsibilities

Waco Siege

Robert Letterman

Lesson 2 Reading Summary

Reference

Hindman, E. B. (1999). Divergence of Duty: Differences in Legal and Ethical Responsibilities. Journal of Mass Media Ethics, 213-230.

Theme

An Analysis of the assault on the Branch Davidian compound in Waco Texas and the legal and ethical questions relating to how the media conducted themselves before and during the raid.

Summary

·        Hindman discusses the relationship between ethical and legal duties.  Laws in a society usually come from ethical stances of that society.

·        Background of Vernon Howell aka David Koresh, the leader is discussed.

·        The ATF began investigating the cult in 1992.  The investigation focused on Federal gun charges.

·        The Waco Tribune Herald was also researching and in the process of doing a seven part story on David Koresh to expose allegations of child sexual abuse.

·        The ATF makes plans to raid the compound and asks the Herald to delay the release of their story.  The Herald then asks the ATF when the raid will take place, the ATF refuses to reveal plans for the raid.

·        On the day of the raid a newspaper photographer inadvertently tipped off a mailman who happened to be Koresh's brother-in-law.

·        Four ATF agents in the firefight and many others were wounded.

·        Families of the fallen agents and ATF agents themselves file lawsuits against the various media organizations involved.  The suit accused them of negligence.

·        Judge Smith's opinion was that the media was negligent in their behavior and they did not act as reasonable individuals under the circumstances.

·        The case was settled before it went to trial.

Application to Topic

During the course of the events in Waco, federal law enforcement sought to maintain some element of surprise regarding the raid and investigation while local media felt it their duty to report their story.  The relationship between the two parties was not good and therefore played a role in how the events played out.

Application to Emergency Services

It's important for Emergency Services to establish a healthy working relationship with the media.  Both sides need to understand each other's objectives and then work towards the greatest good.  In this case local media was certainly unethical with their behavior.  But it appears the relationship between the two parties may have been strained prior to Waco.

Media ethics and trauma

Jeff Martin 

Reading Summary 2

Reference: Muller, D. (2010). Ethics and trauma: lessons from media coverage of Black Saturday. Australian Journal of Rural Health, 18(1), 5-10. doi:10.1111/j.1440-1584.2009.01117.x

Theme:  Media response to restricted access areas within a disaster zone may be varied, and some were viewed as unethical.  There was a lack of consensus on what was ethical.

Summary:  In February, 2009 there was a large brushfire in Victoria, Australia.  173 people died and 414 were injured.  The media scrambled to get access to the affected areas and were stopped at government roadblocks.  However, there was no consensus among media people about the correct ethical response to roadblocks.  In general, media people tended to place a higher value on successfully meeting the competitive pressures under which they work, and on carrying out what they saw as their duty to inform the public, than on the countervailing ethical duty to respect the law.

• The range of responses was wide:
•  Find another way in
•  Get past by chance
•  Get past by deception
•  Resist deception
•  Accept the roadblock
• Journalist’s response to respect of private property was also varied.  The responses ranged from staying off of private property completely, to sifting through ashes at the sites of burned down homes where people had died.
• These are concrete ethical questions to which the media’s codes of ethics give only the most abstract – and sometimes ambiguous – attention.

Other reading:   It’s not the role of our media and our journalists to shield us from truth; it’s their job to confront us with it. In this respect, the plurality of imagery is both a blessing and a curse, because in the sort of panic that follows an event like yesterday’s bombing, anything could be real.

Hawking, T. (2013).  The Ethics of Disaster Photography in the Age of Social Media.  Flavorwire.com, retrieved from: http://flavorwire.com/385270/the-ethics-of-disaster-photography-in-the-age-of-social-media/

Application: Journalists, much like the rest of society, are bound by ethical rules.  Also, just like the rest of us, they are all individual people who will subjectively interpret these rules as they will.  Some will view laws and rules as solid and concrete.  Others will see a certain situation as unique, and will say that the rules and laws do not apply or can be bent. 

Negative Relationship Between the Media and the ATF

Reference: Hindman, E. B. (1999). Divergence of Duty: Differences in Legal and Ethical Responsibilities. Journal of mass Media Ethics, Vol. 14 Issue 4, p.213.18p

Theme: When the media covered the news story about a shootout between the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and a religious cult they overlooked some ethical issues.

Summary:

            Michael Newland

·         Shots fired when the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) tried to arrest the leader of a religious cult in Waco, Texas.

·         The religious groups’ name was known as the Branch Davidians.

·         The shootout/standoff left four federal agents and a number of Davidians dead, with several more wounded.

·         Standoff lasted 51 days which ended with a fire that killed more than 75 Davidians.

·         In 1992 the ATF started to investigate the Davidian’s possession of weapons and potential gun law violations. The ATF were planning to arrest the cult leader on gun charges.

·         At the same time, the WACO Tribune-Harold newspaper also began to investigate the cult. The newspaper was focusing on child sexual abuse allegations and concerns that authorities were doing nothing about it.

·         The ATF asked the newspaper to delay the series but the editor declined to delay their reports. The ATF also stated they planned to make an arrest but did not say when.

·         Since the ATF would not give information about the arrest the newspaper refused to delay their reports.

·         The newspaper found out when the ATF planned to raid the cult. The ATF changed the raid date but the newspaper found out again and put out a story called “The Sinful Messiah.”

·         As the ATF began preparing for the raid on the cult that same newspaper also appeared on scene.

·         Allegedly one of the newspaper photographers informed a cult member that the ATF was planning to raid.

·         An undercover ATF agent found out that the cult new about the raid. The ATF decided to continue on anyways.

·         After the shootout several ATF agents and the victims’ families filed a negligence lawsuit against members of the media including the Tribune-Herald the newspaper agency that refused to stop their reports about the cult and the ATF.

·         The judge over the trial stated, “In this case, the balancing of factors clearly establishes that the media defendants owed a duty to the Plaintiffs not to warn the Davidians, either intentionally or negligently, of the impending raid.”

·         The case was settled before trial, so whether media were legally negligent will never be known.

Application to the lesson topic: The media played a huge role in the shootout between the ATF and the religious cult. The media has a right to inform the public about what is going on and they should but they took it a little too far this time. The ATF asked the newspaper several times to stop their reports but they refused too. If it weren’t for the newspaper the cult would not have found out about the raid and many lives could have been saved. This goes to show that a good relationship between the media and emergency services is vital. Technically the newspaper didn’t do anything illegal but it was not ethical for them to release so much information about the raid.

Application to emergency services: The media is always looking for a breaking news story. Often this story comes from emergencies involving police work. In this case the media was all over the religious cult and how they thought nothing was being done about it. The ATF was working on it but they didn’t want the media to know too much information about it. If the ATF had been a little more open to the newspaper then they might have been more cooperative. Again this goes to show how important the relationship between the media and emergency services is important.