10/28/034

The Society of Professional Journalists, the largest association of journalists in the United States, says that the first priority of journalists is to seek truth and report it.

Unfortunately, that sounds much simpler than it really is.

This issue has been brought to light lately in the Boston community with the publication of a photograph of Victoria Snelgrove, an Emerson broadcast journalism student, who was fatally shot by Boston police as she was celebrating the Red Sox victory against the Yankees last week. When a policeman fired a "non-lethal," pepper-spray pellet into the crowd in an attempt to maintain control, the pellet hit Snelgrove in the eye. She was hospitalized that night and died the following afternoon.

The next day, the Boston Herald published a full front page photo of Snelgrove lying on the sidewalk, bleeding from the eye. A similar picture ran on an inside page.

Media Credit: www.yahoo.com

The Boston community reacted quickly and condemned the photos as "appalling, "hurtful," and "exploiting," in letters to the editor. They considered the photos unnecessary.

Although the Herald apologized, it also defended its choice to publish the photograph, stating that the event was news and they were fulfilling the responsibilities of their job by reporting the truth on the event.

"Yesterday, we ran two very graphic photos that angered and upset many in our community,'' Editorial Director Ken Chandler said in a statement. "Our aim was to illustrate this terrible tragedy as comprehensively as possible and to prevent a repetition by portraying the harsh reality of what can happen when a crowd acts irresponsibly." In retrospect, he said, the photographs were "too graphic," and he apologized to the Snelgroves and the community.

The publication of the photographs illustrates the conflict journalists face being caught between having to be a news reporter and a sympathetic person.

In the event of such a tragedy, the responsibilities of being a sympathetic person outweigh the responsibilities of being a journalist. Snelgrove's death should have been treated with more consideration. The shooting was a senseless mistake--it should not have been a sensational story.

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