Week Twelve - And So What I Change The Sun's Position?

Photojournalism, as have been regarded by many, is ‘reporting the visual information via various media’ (Newton, 2001, page 33). It is considered as being able to record graphic evidence of the events happening across the world and have means of passing this ‘information’ to anywhere on Earth. It also possesses the power to change the fate of the world and said as an ‘eyewitness to history’ (as cited by Alia, 2004, page 108). These articles are considered ‘trustworthy’…until the age of technology comes along.

These days, it is of no problem to change whatever aspect of the photographs so to suit the photographers’ taste or purpose. This is of course, against the ethics of a photojournalist.

Why are ethics important? What is so wrong with changing the components of a picture if the end-result is a more-dramatic image, enough to shake the world? Is not that what photojournalists are doing?

Take a look at this picture:

Notice how the Times’ image is darker than the Newsweek’s version? This cold lead to racial stereotyping and whether or not O. J. Simpson is guilty, it is still unethical to put him under the ‘guilt light’.

The trust that has been reserved for photojournalism could be shattered as with the ‘doctored’ picture, who is going to believe it is the representation of the truth? And this is why ethics are important in photojournalism. Photojournalism should not try to mislead the viewers and try to represent the ‘truth’ as truthfully as possible.

References:

§         Alia, V. (2004). Media Ethics and Social Change. Routledge. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=Fl8UgxrnHtoC&lpg=PA108&dq=ethics%20in%20photojournalism&pg=PA108#v=onepage&q=ethics%20in%20photojournalism&f=false

§         Newton, J. H. (2001). The burden of visual truth: the role of photojournalism in mediating reality. Routledge. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=Y2nbX-ecV2YC&lpg=PA34&dq=ethics%20in%20photojournalism&pg=PA34#v=onepage&q=ethics%20in%20photojournalism&f=false

§         Wheeler, T. (2002). Phototruth or Photofiction?: Ethics and Media Imagery in the Digital Age. Routledge Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=c0kjsrfz2XwC&lpg=PA38&dq=ethics%20in%20photojournalism&pg=PA51#v=onepage&q=ethics%20in%20photojournalism&f=false

§         Wright, T. (2004). The Photography Handbook. Routledge. Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=-fGFXROq2qoC&lpg=PA178&dq=ethics%20in%20photojournalism&pg=PA190#v=onepage&q=ethics%20in%20photojournalism&f=false