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Bobbi
The problem I have with those pictures of the grieving families is that they are not given a choice.
I think the story of what war does *should* be told but I also think a grieving family's privacy and wishes should be respected. Just my two cents.
Walt
How do you know this?? I am sure they signed some kind of release...I am sure who ever took the pics told them of their intent to use them in an article.
They would almost have had to!
Bobbi
QuoteSorry for making this Speakers Cornerish.
The problem I have with those pictures of the grieving families is that they are not given a choice.
I think the story of what war does *should* be told but I also think a grieving family's privacy and wishes should be respected. Just my two cents.
Christmas 1989, I was living in Huntington Beach. There was a house fire during a family gathering and nobody escaped. I think 9 people were killed. One guy showed up late, to learn his entire family was dead. They showed him live on TV as he fell to the ground in the yard, wailing, experiencing grief that I can't really imagine. A reporter got near the guy a little later and had the audacity to ask him, "Can you tell us how you feel sir?", with all the caring of a sports reporter asking a winning player on a superbowl team "You've just won the superbowl! Tell us what you're going to do now!" There have been very few times in my life that I've so strongly wanted to beat the living shit out of someone. I mean, how the fuck did he think he felt?!
I agree there are instances in which showing unpleasant things is for the greater good. Personal tragedy isn't one of them. Neither I nor anyone else was better off or more understanding of the dangers of fire as a result of such "titillation".
Blues,
Dave
(drink Mountain Dew)
Quote"The problem I have with those pictures of the grieving families is that they are not given a choice."
How do you know this?? I am sure they signed some kind of release...I am sure who ever took the pics told them of their intent to use them in an article.
They would almost have had to!
Bobbi
There is no shortage of references to the fact that US courts have upheld photographers rights to photograph just about anything in a public setting--even private matters.
Here's an excerpt from one such references on releases:
Quote
Furthermore, courts have ruled that photographs taken in a public place of private matters do not constitute an invasion of privacy. Thus, photos of a murder victim's grieving family taken out on the street cannot be considered invasion of privacy, nor can photos of a married man and his mistress, if they were photographed in public.
Walt
Bobbi
QuoteWell call me stupid and slap me silly!!
Bobbi
I think I'll just continue to call you Bobbi and instead of slapping, how about spanking?!!!
Walt
jceman 1
QuoteQuotehttp://www.time.com/time/photoessays/iraq_war_families/
I need to learn how to make it a clicky....
I have friends that do this - I do not envy them. I am humbled by them in so many ways......
That has absolutely *got* to be one of the worst, yet most honorable jobs on the planet.
Walt
As a senior NCO, it has fallen on my son Chris to do this job. He said it is the hardest thing he has had to do in his career, but the way the present-day Army is responding and supporting the families after their soldier has paid the price is stunning.
He said the only response he was not impressed with was Gov. Jeb's; but once Chris told the gov's aide about it, that changed in a hurry. The biggest problem he had was with Phelps' people.
Richards 0
Richards
The locals and the Army are getting pretty good at showing their support and following through with their commitments.
The job of telling a family, is one of complete humility and your son should be well respected for it.
My hats of to him.
So, start being safe, first!!!
mx757 4
I remember when she returned to the team after his funeral. She didn't want to play / wanted to be alone.
Ragnarok 0
Twin Otter N203-Echo,29 July 2006
Cessna P206 N2537X, 19 April 2008
Blue Skies Forever
I used to think that way. I used to have a gripe with a lot of news pictures and stories. Why was he taking those pictures instead of helping? Why couldn't he leave those people to grieve in peace.
Over time, I've changed my mind a bit. If no-one tells the story, then that grief is just a private sadness. That starving child is just a statistic on an annual report.
Sure, you can write about it, but one good image, that one picture that catches you as you're flicking the pages in the newspaper and makes you stop - that really is worth a thousand words.
With these pictures more people can be reached. More people can learn about the suffering, and the hurt and the grief goes from being a private affair to something that can help to change the world. The starving child becomes real to the reader 15,000 km's away.
And for their trouble, a lot of these reporters have very bad breakdowns and other psychotic incidents. Reporters get tortured and killed while trying to bring us the pictures from places like Rwanda and Iraq. They make very real personal sacrifices every day to shove that camera in those people's faces, to bring the soul of that story home to us sitting in our comfortable lives. I respect them for that, but I can see how it would be hard to bear.
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