Boston Marathon thread

sillysally

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#41
Forgive me for not fully expecting to see dismemberment and not on a back alley news site. It was a major affiliate like ABC (I honestly don't remember if it was abc or not but i know it was one of the main network type pages but I was shocked to see it. As they say, what has been seen cannot be unseen)

No one is saying don't take photos of the scene but to take close up photos of dismemberment victims especially without blurring their faces (which they didn't do until people started blasting them for being so callous and disrespectful)? That is not like taking a photo of a building or of the wreckage (although if I recall someone finally told the news to cool it and stop showing the footage for a while so people could heal)

How does posting a photo of a person that has expired or a person missing their legs give more information? We already knew people were dead and lost limbs.
Well, how did seeing the jets hitting and the towers falling give us more information? We knew thousands died, we knew the various horrible ways in which they died, we knew it was an attack, did we NEED to see it happen to KNOW those things? It may not have been gory, but if you watched that coverage you were seeing people suffer and die, you were seeing families destroyed. You just weren't seeing any blood.

Holding back images because they may be too disturbing is censorship, period, and I'm not ok with that happening in situations like that.
 

sillysally

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#42
I definitely agree that the amount of exposure some pics will get, the way the media saturates us, etc is ridiculous. HOWEVER, they wouldnt be doing it if people werent watching the 24/7 coverage, etc.

Personally, I do not watch the news, I dont have cable. I only look when I want to, online, doing searches. That likely is a big part of my view being what it is.
This. We just have network news, and there was nothing like that shown.
 

sparks19

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#43
When the story first broke it was a lot harder to avoid. It wasn't like I clicked on the photo slideshow or anything, it was right at the top of the first page. I like news sites and I want information. Even this morning I clicked on a link to a news article about it and saw the guy in the wheelchair. I clicked out fast enough that I didn't see if it was the cropped version or not.

I have mixed feelings about it all. I think it's important for us to take it seriously but on the other hand I feel SO MUCH for the people in the photos. Especially the guy in the wheelchair with missing leg(s). He looked horrible, you know this has to be completely traumatic for him. I just can't even fathom what he was going through at that moment. And I feel badly for him that that moment was front and cover of about half the news stories in the world.

and maybe that means the photos are really effective since that particular photo bothered me so much.
This

It isn't even about offending people or not. It is about respect for the people that suffered :(. This won't help them heal and the only people that really need those photos for imformation are the authorities since it may tell them something about the blast but does that photo give us, joe public more info and education? No.

How far should we take THIS? If we are going to play it like that. Should the news have showed full unedited videos of the beheadings of people by "the terrorists" that they were sent? I know they leaked and were posted in their entirety somewhere but in the interest of sharing everything for information they should have just showed them right? Or at least photos duing the beheading and the severed head after? Yes I am being overly dramatic but the "we need to see everything they have so we have the full story" thing can really go too far
 

sparks19

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#44
Well, how did seeing the jets hitting and the towers falling give us more information? We knew thousands died, we knew the various horrible ways in which they died, we knew it was an attack, did we NEED to see it happen to KNOW those things? It may not have been gory, but if you watched that coverage you were seeing people suffer and die, you were seeing families destroyed. You just weren't seeing any blood.

Holding back images because they may be too disturbing is censorship, period, and I'm not ok with that happening in situations like that.
There actually was a period of time where the media was asked (told?) to stop replaying the footage of the planes hitting and the towers falling because it was too much and for the people that were healing to see it everywhere everyday

It shouldn't have to be censorship, it should be the news that posts it looking at the photo and thinking OMG that poor human being and their family, we don't need to post this whole photo.
 

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#45
Don't know if the woman is dead or not, I have seen that picture ... It looks like the EMT might have been jut taking he vitals & whatever

But these people were at a public event ... So maybe that is a loophole as to why their faces could be shown. I don't think this person did it maliciously but violence is a reality in today's world, in this country we like to think we are immune to it ... Maybe that's why we are so shocked when its televised.

The Spanish stations do not censer violence ESP that from drug cartels, they want people to see how it really is.
 

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#46
This

It isn't even about offending people or not. It is about respect for the people that suffered :(. This won't help them heal and the only people that really need those photos for imformation are the authorities since it may tell them something about the blast but does that photo give us, joe public more info and education? No.

How far should we take THIS? If we are going to play it like that. Should the news have showed full unedited videos of the beheadings of people by "the terrorists" that they were sent? I know they leaked and were posted in their entirety somewhere but in the interest of sharing everything for information they should have just showed them right? Or at least photos duing the beheading and the severed head after? Yes I am being overly dramatic but the "we need to see everything they have so we have the full story" thing can really go too far
What about the continuing coverage of the 911 attacks? What about all the footage of people JUMPING from the top floors or the buildings? There wasn't as much outcry about that. Why? Because there was no blood? Because you couldn't see their faces? Because their parents wouldn't see their faces screaming towards the ground At terminal velocity?

What about the columbine shootings? They showed students going ou in stretchers, some bloody & they showed the covered bodies of the gunmen ... This kind of thing happens all the time on the media.

IMO it's not about what you see, but the context in which it is seen. I don't think the media was satisfying the publics morbid curiosity, they probably were just trying to capture the horror & what it was really like.
 
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#47
To be fair, yes, it is discussed and debated every tragedy. People definitely disagreed with some of the images from 9-11 being shown, from Columbine, on and on. And that is totally fair. It is something that SHOULD be discussed as it keeps us thinking and questioning. I just happen to disagree it was too much this time but do definitely think its a valid debate.
 

sillysally

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#48
This

It isn't even about offending people or not. It is about respect for the people that suffered :(. This won't help them heal and the only people that really need those photos for imformation are the authorities since it may tell them something about the blast but does that photo give us, joe public more info and education? No.

How far should we take THIS? If we are going to play it like that. Should the news have showed full unedited videos of the beheadings of people by "the terrorists" that they were sent? I know they leaked and were posted in their entirety somewhere but in the interest of sharing everything for information they should have just showed them right? Or at least photos duing the beheading and the severed head after? Yes I am being overly dramatic but the "we need to see everything they have so we have the full story" thing can really go too far
I don't think they should have been aired on the nightly news, but they should have been made available somehow and they were. You don't NEED to see anything, you can self censor if you chose. Again, I'm not saying that you should be playing these in a loop on a big screen for the local elementary school, but I do think they should make them available somewhere.

Like it or not, this is part of living in a society where there is freedom of the press. None of these photographers were breaking into hospital rooms taking these photos, it was out on the street. And I'm sorry, but the media is not there to "heal" people, that is not it's function.

Yes, they did stop showing video of the towers after a while, but it played for a long time and it was still available for those that wanted to view it, it was not just not released.
 

sparks19

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#49
I don't watch news on the TV. Last night we only watched recorded shows or shows on stations like TBS that don't have a news crew because I just couldn't stand to watch it over and over again anymore. How foes one self censor a photo they have no idea is coming? It's not like I saw a thumbnail and was like oooh lets see this up close. It popped up in a gallery with a note of "we posted this photo earlier but have since blurred out the face" only after people were like WTF is wrong with you? At least let his family be notified.

We are just going to have to agree to disagree because I don't believe we need to publish every photo of everythig available just because the media took a photo of it.

Te media is not in the business of healing people, that's true... But as human beings we should all be in the business of helping to heal people in some capacity
 

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#50
While I agree those photos are not appropriate for the general public I am MORE bothered by doctoring photos for the public. Talk about blurring the line. The guy, in the wheelchair, with the blanket on his lap? There is an identical shot on another news site without the blanket and while the shot is upsettingly gruesome it really makes me uncomfortable that they doctored the photo without a clear admission such as an old school blur or big black censor bar.
I noticed this as well. Well, I saw the blanket picture first, I was looking at the guy, couldn't see anything wrong with him, but he was so 'grey' and in shock. Then on another site I was scrolling through and saw the same picture, but unedited. :( Was very shocking.

I don't really mind the pictures being taken. I understand why it would bother some people though. For me, personally, to look at pictures brings it a little more into reality. It puts real people, real faces, into the incident...instead of just a bombing with numbers. Three people dead and a few dozen critically injured doesn't sound bad to me. Sounds like it 'could have been worse'. There were more people killed in the freak tornadoes here two years ago, and it wasn't nearly as public. But then you look at the photos and hear the stories and it really puts it into perspective. You realize how bad it was and how many people were affected by it. Yes..I definitely appreciate the photos.

It seems the pictures that I saw, everyone was attended to. I don't think anyone would just stand there taking pictures if someone needed help. Lots of the photos seemed professional and it could be from quite far away they took the picture. The only one I saw that was questionable was the runner that was knocked down and the police running around him.
 
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#51
The only one I saw that was questionable was the runner that was knocked down and the police running around him.
That one I was kind of scratching my head over too...until I realized the timing of it. He was helped up pretty quickly. At first the police were kind of surrounding him with guns drawn...looking for attack most likely. He was fine, just fell, so I am sure they could see it was not a life or death situation where getting a good view around couldve been...and then of course within a second of them getting to him, the second bomb went off.
 

Shai

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#52
While I agree those photos are not appropriate for the general public I am MORE bothered by doctoring photos for the public. Talk about blurring the line. The guy, in the wheelchair, with the blanket on his lap? There is an identical shot on another news site without the blanket and while the shot is upsettingly gruesome it really makes me uncomfortable that they doctored the photo without a clear admission such as an old school blur or big black censor bar.
I agree with several points in this thread, but especially this one.

Posting photos of people seriously maimed/killed before their families are notified, is wrong IMO. Even after, there should be some sort of moral self-check in place. If you aren't sure, ask for permission (if possible) or just don't. Yeah if you take a picture of my broken body on the asphalt because I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, you have the right post that. But should you? Because you better know that if I survive and am faced with that reminder of my personal hell every time I turn on my computer, I will not forgive you. If my grandparents happen across that photo, I will not forgive you. Ever.

Doctoring photos to change the content without making it VERY CLEAR what you have doctored is also very, very wrong if that is what was done (I have not seen this image).

I have seen far too many arguments from photojournalists in the last several months regarding the importance of posting their "raw" images and honestly most of the arguments just don't hold water. For the most part it boils down to one thing: they can sell it, so they do. There is very little moral check, and if the thought occurs at all it seems to be "well if I don't sell it, someone else will" which is no argument at all.


Just my 2cents
 
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stardogs

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#53
Quick note, there was an update on the guy in the wheelchair with injured legs. His name is Jeff and he is a Costco employee. Via a Costco related page, his dad shared this, "Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers, they did help greatly. Unfortunately my son was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He had to have both lower limbs removed due to the extensive vascular and bone damage. I was with him last night and am heading back down to Boston - Boston Medical Center to be with him today. He went back into surgery last night at midnight for exploratory due to fluid in his abdomen. He came out at 2:30 and doctors informed us he was doing better. Thanks again to all you guys and girls, my friends. I'll keep you informed."

The Costco community is rallying around him, which is so nice to see.

A more detailed article (with semicropped pic): http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/17/us/in-grisly-image-a-father-sees-his-son.html?_r=0
 

sparks19

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#56
Quick note, there was an update on the guy in the wheelchair with injured legs. His name is Jeff and he is a Costco employee. Via a Costco related page, his dad shared this, "Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers, they did help greatly. Unfortunately my son was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. He had to have both lower limbs removed due to the extensive vascular and bone damage. I was with him last night and am heading back down to Boston - Boston Medical Center to be with him today. He went back into surgery last night at midnight for exploratory due to fluid in his abdomen. He came out at 2:30 and doctors informed us he was doing better. Thanks again to all you guys and girls, my friends. I'll keep you informed."

The Costco community is rallying around him, which is so nice to see.

A more detailed article (with semicropped pic): http://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/17/us/in-grisly-image-a-father-sees-his-son.html?_r=0
Thank you for the update. How horrific and sad :(

Thank the Lord for Carlos. He appeared in many photos I noticed. An angel from heaven.

God speed, Jeff!!!!
 
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#57
I have very mixed feelings about the pictures. Something like this is more than something that happened to some people, it's a national experience and part of our history now. We've always documented tragic and horrific events photographically, I'm not so sure there's much different or unique about this one except that we're seeing it now in real time instead of looking back in history... take a look at this list, for example, for some perspective (some graphic historical photos on there).

Maybe I'm just not squeamish, but I haven't really seen photos I consider to be so gruesome they have no value or place as part of this experience. Even the guy in the wheelchair I had to kind of do a triple take like "is THIS the picture everyone is talking about?" Not having seen it and going to look at it to see what I thought about it, I was expecting much worse.
 

Izzy's Valkyrie

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#58
This has been the first human tragedy to really upset me. Heck I lived in NY state when 9/11 happened and I wasn't this upset. My husband had been talking about trying to qualify when he did a half marathon last month so when I saw pictures and read stories all I could think was that it could have been me or him, or a family friend (both of us have uncles that are marathon runners).

The picture that really got me was a runner and what appears to be her significant other being reunited. That one made me cry because it could have been us, if we were lucky. I know nothing bad happened to me personally but **** if it hasn't made the last two days sort of dull and hard to smile during.
 

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#59
This has been the first human tragedy to really upset me. Heck I lived in NY state when 9/11 happened and I wasn't this upset. My husband had been talking about trying to qualify when he did a half marathon last month so when I saw pictures and read stories all I could think was that it could have been me or him, or a family friend (both of us have uncles that are marathon runners).

The picture that really got me was a runner and what appears to be her significant other being reunited. That one made me cry because it could have been us, if we were lucky. I know nothing bad happened to me personally but **** if it hasn't made the last two days sort of dull and hard to smile during.
same.

Brian keeps saying the last two days "you are being really quiet, is everything OK" and I just say yes, I don't know why I'm being quiet, I just feel blah. not necessarily sad/depressed... just down. probably doesn't help that I have PMS but I just don't feel chatty or like singing along with the radio or anything.
 

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