Neda Agha Soltan and the Ethics of Imagery

Excerpt from an article by Fred Ritchin…

Video of the death of Neda Agha Soltan, who was shot in the chest as she stood near a peaceful protest in Tehran this Saturday, has become a powerful symbol as it has spread worldwide through social websites and news media alike. But for news organizations, this video also poses hard questions: When, how and in what context should we use graphic, violent, deeply upsetting images and video?

In the first in a series of guest posts, author and NYU photography professor Fred Ritchin addresses what journalists need to know.

The 1972 photograph by Nick Ut of children being napalmed in Vietnam, an iconic image that did much to focus the world on the war’s horror, was almost not published because it showed a traumatized, naked Vietnamese girl from the front.

Source Dart Center