Distributing ethics: Filtering images of death at three news photo desks

Abstract

This article explores the practices of selecting news images that depict death at a global picture agency, national picture agency and a news magazine. The study is based on ethnographic observations and interviews ( N = 30) from three Western-based news organisations, each representing a link in the complex international news-image circulation process. Further, the organisations form an example of a chain of filters through which most of the news images produced for the global market have to pass before publication. These filters are scrutinised by the empirical case studies that examine the professionals’ ethical reasoning regarding images of violence and death. This research contributes to an understanding of the differences and similarities between media organisations as filters and sheds light on their role in shaping visual coverage. This study concludes that photojournalism professionals’ ethical decision-making is discursively constructed around three frames: (1) shared ethics, (2) relative ethics and (3) distributed ethics. All the organisations share certain similar conceptions of journalism ethics at the level of ideals. On the level of workplace practices and routines, a mixture of practical preconditions, journalism’s self-regulation, business logic and national legislation lead to differences in the image selection practices. It is argued that the ethical decision-making is distributed between – and sometimes even outsourced to – colleagues working in different parts of the filtering chain. Finally, this study suggests that dead or suffering bodies are often invisible in the images of the studied media organisations.

Future directions of professional photographers: A case study of changing hats between journalism and humanitarian photography

“…Generally, balancing between the fundamental values of information provision and respecting human dignity is a dilemma in journalism, and it is constantly considered in daily practice (Morse, 2014). This balancing is routine-like in the photojournalistic work, while the practical constraints and business logic also largely influence the ethical decisions of photojournalism professionals (Mäenpää, 2022).…”

Travesías educativas multidisciplinarias: Un enfoque científico en temáticas variadas para una educación transformadora

“…El fotoperiodismo ha sido asumido como una disciplina con historia adoptado por periodistas, reporteros o fotógrafos con inmersión objetiva para mostrar hechos puntuales en tendencias diversas; así lo demuestran las diversas investigaciones enfocando su estudio con diversos fines que permitieron explorar su actual situación en diversos espacios o sociedades. Es así como Mäenpää (2022), destaca el valor de todas las herramientas valiosas que son aprovechadas de la fotografía para un adecuado desarrollo de la teoría y práctica periodística. La fotografía puede enmarcar mensajes profundos, porque tiene la capacidad de llevar datos con el fin de ser informativos, en tanto tenga rasgos de periodismo, aunque muchos de estos rasgos se han visto sujeto a la censura de la sociedad y política.…”

“Please. Do. Not. Share. Videos. Share. Cats.”: Counteracting Terrorist and Violent Extremist Content on Twitter during Terrorist Attacks

“…While information is highly prized in any crisis, the ethical aspects of sharing information is a central concern of journalistic practice in traditional media outlets. For example, visual news coverage of airplane crashes is filtered through various chains of ethical decision-making (Mäenpää 2021) that may well deem certain images too graphic to be published in the mass media, even if they might be informative for a certain readership. Specific controversies have especially shaped these ethical practices in news coverage.…”

“…While access to information is highly desirable during a terrorist attack, the ethical aspects of circulation have been debated. While relevant updates on the situation are clearly vital during an ongoing crisis, there are times when the sensitive nature of content (Mäenpää 2021)-especially for the families of victims-precludes publication in the media. On social media platforms, content moderation performs the function of controlling the sharing of information.…”