Following the horrific events on Sept. 11, The Salt Lake Tribune and most of the nation’s newspapers published special and extra editions to document the “Unthinkable,” as this newspaper proclaimed. In bold type, newspapers told the story under banner headlines of “Terror Attack,” “America’s Nightmare,” “A New Day of Infamy,” “Who Would Do This?” — and the angst expressed in a single word by The San Francisco Examiner: “Bastards!”
In the aftermath of horrors last Tuesday morning — when commercial airliners crashed into New York’s World Trade Center, the Pentagon in Washington and a Pennsylvania field – — U.S. and foreign newspapers were chock full of photographs depicting the carnage. The photograph of a person jumping from one of the burning World Trade Center towers brought criticism from four Tribune readers. For these callers, that photo was inappropriate — and it was one they did not want their children to see. One of the four said the photo was in “poor taste” because many people still do not know if a loved one is alive or dead. Therefore, to see a photo of someone jumping from the building only adds to the anguish, she said.
Tribune editors were not surprised that some readers would disagree with the decision to run the photo. If there ever were a case where producers of newspapers (editors and reporters) and consumers (readers) differ as to what is “newsworthy” and what should or should not be in the paper, this is it. When I discussed this concern with editors, the consensus was they, too, found the photo painful. However, that does not diminish its newsworthiness. The picture shows the human toll the terrorist attacks had on individuals . . . more than pictures of exploding steel buildings. Can you imagine having to decide whether to stay inside a burning building or jump? they asked.
Obviously, editors at many newspapers here and abroad — The Los Angeles Times, Sacramento Bee, Florida Union-Tribune in Jacksonville, The Yomiuri Shimbun in Japan, The New York Times, The Arizona Republic, The Oregonian in Portland, Jornal Publico in Portugal, The Detroit Free Press, The Tennessean, The Guardian in London, to name a few, also believed it was important to run that photo.
For research purposes, Paul McMasters, First Amendment ombudsman for the Freedom Forum in Arlington, Va., queried newspapers’ representatives as to why individuals objected to that specific photo. Given the circumstances, he said, there are several explanations for that man’s body hurtling through the air: “He could have been thrown out of the building by the exploding forces in the building at the time. He could have jumped — being a rational choice as the lesser of two horrors. Were the objections just to seeing a human body falling or that of a suicide?”
From my conversation with callers, they simply do not want to see a photo of the dead and dying, period. It was of no concern whether the body falling from the building was a result of the force of the attacks or simply having no other choice. It is understandable that some folks are more squeamish than others.
Takeshi Maezawa, the ombudsman for Yomiuri Shimbun, said his country’s three major newspapers also ran the photo. Although he did not received complaints, he opined that readers in Japan might have been more shocked by the photo showing people peering out of the burning North Tower, which also appeared in his country’s newspapers.
“We, all Japanese, wish to extend to American people our deepest sympathy at this tragedy,” he said.
The Tribune also was taken to task for running the photo showing Palestinians in Lebanon celebrating the terrorist attacks upon the United States. The caller, identifying himself as a Muslim in Utah, said he is concerned about the safety of his children and is “dismayed [the picture] will inflame and create anger against Muslims here.”
Editors are sensitive to this real issue. No one should judge an entire group by the actions of a few. But to ignore what “a few” are doing — in the wake of these horrible attacks — is akin to putting one’s head in the sand. It is a fact, there are groups that dislike this country and, obviously, will go to unthinkable extremes to inflict havoc upon this nation. In wake of Tuesday’s terrorist attacks, America needs all the information it can get.
