When photojournalists cover stories, they aren’t necessarily looking for pretty pictures. They are looking for images that best tell the story. At times, the published photos aren’t necessarily the ones some readers would choose.
A photo that appeared on Page A-8 Wednesday brought complaints from some readers because it showed the body of a dead teen-ager in a casket and his weeping father. Those who were offended said the photo was in bad taste and criticized The San Diego Union-Tribune for sensationalism and for what they saw as an invasion of the family’s privacy.
The images of the mourning father told the story visually and helped readers better understand the events.
As painful as it was to see, the photo of Galuega Tufi grieving over the casket of his 14-year-old son, Larson, gave us an inkling of the loss he felt. It is because Galuega Tufi’s grief reached out of the page and into your hearts that some readers were so upset by it.
Larson Tufi was one of two teen-age boys killed in what police initially described as a gun battle. It turned out one group was armed with a handgun, the other with a BB gun. The photo that drew the objections was with a story headlined “Loss in Lincoln Park” that told about the mourning community and the anger of some at the seeming indifference to their loss by others in San Diego.
The shot by photographer Peggy Peattie was taken with the family’s permission, said Michael Franklin, Union-Tribune director of photography. “We were very welcomed by the Tufi family to be at the funeral and to photograph a very intimate situation.”
But just because the family permitted the photograph to be taken didn’t mean the newspaper would automatically use it. Anytime the newspaper considers using a photo of a dead person there is a great deal of discussion that involves top editors, including Editor Karin Winner.
Franklin said this isn’t the first time the newspaper has published a photograph of a body in a casket. Six years ago, the Union-Tribune published a front-page photo of Cardinal Joseph Bernardin lying in state. Another image of an open casket was of a young man killed over a skateboard. “We have also published similar photos on other occasions, but it is very rare that we do,” Franklin said.
This time, Franklin said, editors decided to use the image of the boy and his father because it was so powerful and an integral part of the story. “There are kids dying in the streets but not much attention is given in the media to the grief their parents and community feel. This photograph conveys this better than anything I can imagine. I feel that father’s pain when I look at the picture. I see instantly that it is about parenthood and loss.
“I see a very dignified man saying goodbye to his son for the last time. This photograph speaks volumes about the way a community deals with an all-too-common occurrence.”
Yes, it was a painful photograph to view. Yet, it conveyed the depth of loss and sorrow in an instant.
Also on Wednesday, some readers objected because in most editions the prominent photo with the story about the county’s 33rd annual spelling bee was not of the winner. The image that dominated B-1 showed a nervous girl awaiting her turn. A smaller photo showed the happy winner celebrating with a friend.
The photo of the child waiting her turn in the spelling bee captured the tension and the nervousness experienced by contestants.
A reader suggested the photo that was selected was based on who was more photogenic. In fact, Franklin said, both girls were photogenic.
“We are there to cover the event,” Franklin wrote in an e-mail to a reader. “We are not merely there to photograph the winner. We chose the larger photo because it showed the anticipation as one contestant watched the eventual winner spell a word. That is something that every contestant could relate to.”
Anyone who wants to know whether it’s tough to be a child and compete in a spelling bee need only look at that photo.
You didn’t have to be Irish to notice the problem with a March 17 headline that said: “St. Patty’s Day parade gets big pinch of red, white and blue.”
“Patty” is sometimes used as a nickname for women named “Patricia.” The correct word would have been “Paddy.”
“Aaack!” wrote Mary Doyle in an e-mail to reporter Chris Moran who wrote the story. Doyle, who grew up hearing stories about her Uncle Paddy, said she enjoyed the story on the St. Patrick’s Day parade “after I got over the shock of seeing the reference to St. Patty’s Day in the headline (I’m cringing again as I type that word).”
Doyle knows Moran didn’t write the headline and suggested that he “please speak to the non-Irishman or woman who did.”
In the meantime, she was going in search of a green beer so she could calm down.
