Daniel Bersack's Code Of Ethics For Photojournalists

Walking through the Newseum in Washington D.C., the typical visitor is enriched in the first amendment alongside the freedom of expression. From the top level terrace to the bottom level, the museum depicts different aspects of the first amendment, which entails the freedom of religion, speech, press, assembly, and petition. Throughout the museum, the exhibits tackle each aspect from showing newspapers from hundreds of years ago to the press coverage of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. It is quite clear that these components are vital for a functional democracy and for the advancement of human rights. However, the end of the museum showcases the haunting and powerful Pulitzer prize winner photographs since its establishment. Some of these pictures

The group advocates for responsible and accurate representation of real life events without any kind of manipulations. However, Daniel Bersack, a leader of ethical photography at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, argues that these rules are not comprehensive enough. He argues that “ethics is an inherently subjective field”, which entails that photographers have differentiating definitions of the rules (Bersack). Since photojournalism is a new way of examining current events, the meaning behind the term is ambiguous in the sense that past photographers who shot nationally known photos are regular ordinary people. As an example, the picture depicting a firefighter holding a rescued baby during the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995 was taken by a “utility worker” and not “a newspaper photographer” or a photojournalist (Bersack). The counterargument arises here that the photographer was not held accountable to the NPPA guidelines since he was not a professional photographer. The Oklahoma City bomber photographer does not have to adhere to the code of ethics set for photojournalists, which creates a vague interpretation of what is ethical or not. Especially in this era, a camera is easily accesible through phones, tablets, and other methods of capturing real life events. Without the incorporation of a universal code of ethics

Tom Junod, a celebrated magazine writer who was awarded the most prestigious award in magazine writing, expounded on the falling man and gives a different narrative. Junod calls attention to the narrative of the photographer who witnessed the falling bodies from the Twin Towers. He says the photographer “is in the business of shooting bodies”, which is especially haunting during 9/11 (Junod, 2). Junod also expands on this idea saying a photographer “never knows when history is made” until the photographer realizes it (Junod, 1). This shows the desire of a photographer to capture the best picture in order to make history. The profession of photojournalism as a whole is far more interested in incorporating real life events into a single non moving item rather than focusing on the present day tragedies. Some may argue that the photographer needs to recognize the incident, but in hindsight, the photographer focuses more on the details of the photograph they are trying to take than the real life physical and emotional well-being of the person. With the case of the falling man, the viewers and photographer only sees a person who is content with his fate. However, society fails to recognize the horrors that compelled the man to jump to an inevitable death. Rather, the photographer and the