Tug of War in Reporting Protest

Taniah Stephens 

ts648318@ohio.edu 

 

When George Floyd was murdered on May 25, 2020, media coverage from across the country were covering this murder day in and night out. From how the murder happened, to who was involved and how the country would react to this, media outlets where on top of it, nonstop. The media coverage would go from just focusing the why murder happened to why the result of this murder transitioned to a protest for not just George Floyd but for every other black life that had been unjustly lost in the past years in hands of policemen/women. 

There was so much unfolding in front of a journalist eyes and one question that could reoccur in a journalist mind is: What should we do with reporting the truth but not put people in harms way? 

Picture source: https://www.poynter.org/ethics-trust/2020/should-journalists-show-protesters-faces/

 

Ethically, reporting the truth and minimizing harm are two big factors when it comes to wanting trust from any consumer willing to read and see what you put out. With what has been going on now, reporting the truth and minimizing harm have been a tug-of-war with with journalist in terms of being able to photograph protestors or should journalist stay away from aiming for individuals faces to photograph and blur them instead? 

NPR Public Editor, Kelly McBride, explains that with "blurring images is a form of photo manipulation that makes them less true" and she goes on to say the alternative route by "journalist might first look for another image that conveys a comparable moment without jeopardizing an individual." McBride does make a great statement with taking the route with not just specifically aiming at one individual when the focal point is about more than individual protesting. 

But there have been opposing arguments with what McBride expressed on her thoughts about blurring individuals. The SPJ Code of Ethics,  explains that for journalist should, "never distort the content of news photos", along with that journalist should "balance the public's need for information against potential harm or discomfort." With that code of ethic in place, it basically makes blurring out individuals not the best idea for journalist to do for a cause that wants the public's attention as much as possible. 

This topic puts journalist in a position to choose which one they should tackle and if its the right way to go about it. Journalist have the decision to convey a message of what the world wants to see or the ethical approach and what ethical values as reporters and journalist have with conveying the right message.