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 This item appeared in the February, 2003 edition of The Publisher.

Kyle Griffin, Peterborough (ON) This Week Photos like this can lead to difficult decisions for editors. Run the photo and upset your community or hold off?

One of the most common ethical issues raised by community newspaper journalists and non-journalists alike is the affect a newspaper’s community has on its news coverage.

Nowhere is this apparent issue more easily seen than in the choice to run a motor vehicle collision photograph that contains a fatality. It can be a watershed decision for any community newspaper publisher. A motor vehicle collision has resulted in a fatality.

Your photographer has taken a great shot - perhaps even a potentially award-winning one. Do you run the photo and risk angering your community or hold off?

The answer to that question is not a simple one, judging by Canadian Community Newspapers Association members’ responses.

“I would always run a photo of a fatal accident,” said Grand Bend (ON) The Lakeshore Advance Editor Nellie Evans.

Evans stressed that the “always run” philosophy did have certain criteria, including informing the family that the photo would run, that the photo was ‘educational’ to groups at higher risk for vehicle accidents and that the photo obviously have good reproduction quality.

Evans also involves the paper’s entire staff in the decision to run a fatal accident photo.

PUBLISHER POLL Your photographer has taken a potentially award-winning photograph of a fatal motor vehicle collision in your community. Do you print the photo or hold off? Print. 65% Hold off. 35%

Randy Edison, editor of the Springdale (NB) Nor’Wester, said that as long as the body or bodies of the victims are not in the photo, he has ‘no problem’ in running photos of fatal accident scenes. “Primarily taste is the guiding factor,” he said. “In most cases I’ve experienced, the photographer can still capture emotion, tragedy, sorrow - all the emotions which accompany these types of situations - without actually showing a victim. The scene which accompanies these types of accidents always provides countless good photo opportunities - it just takes a little more thought and time to get the right shot.”

When asked, many editors indicated they felt running fatal accident photos could create a ‘deterrent factor’ for other drivers, thereby serving the public good. “Is this photo going to educate people to a potential danger,” asked Fernie (BC) Free Press Editor Jhim Burwell. “Or am I just being sensational?”

But Bill Clarke, editor of the Campbellton (NB) Tribune, questioned that justification. “I recall one case in which someone called to complain about a picture in which a blanket covering a body appeared in the background,” he said. “I tried to justify this by saying that such pictures might make people think about their driving habits, but it wasn’t very convincing.”

Anne Moralejo, editor of the Ottawa (ON) Weekly Journal East and the Ottawa (ON) Star, said she runs fatal accident photos for altogether separate reasons. “I view this as a final record of a person’s life, in the same way as an obituary,” she said.

Sicamous (BC) Eagle Valley News Editor Lorraine March said her first criteria in whether or not to run a fatal accident photo is always news value. “Readers want to see and know the details,” she said. “The second criteria is photo quality. Also, I try to involve emergency services personnel in the photo which, in my view, distracts from the intensity of the tragedy and adds a hero aspect to it. I won’t run a pic if the (dead) victim’s face is showing.”

Sue Gawlak, editor of the St. Albert (AB) Gazette, agreed. “Ultimately, any fatal accident is news and that’s our business,” she said. “But news photos don’t have to contain all the blood and gore of an accident to have a strong visual impact. Each circumstance is a judgment call by the editor — and it never hurts to get a second opinion. We believe our readers expect us to bring them the news and at the same time be sensitive to the feelings of the family and friends. It’s a tough balancing act and a responsibility every newspaper should take seriously.”

Reaction from readers is also a concern for many. "I'd never run something in the Free Press that showed the pain that was experienced in the accident itself," said Burwell. "Our circulation would drop by half.

In other, bigger papers covering a larger market and community I would."

Gawlak said that although she has received some complaints, they have never received a complaint from a victim’s family. “In one case, we actually received a call of gratitude from the family for the way in which the photo and story were handled,” she said.

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