Monday, August 10, 2009

"Mommy, are those doggies sleeping?"

This grotesque photo greeted Gondolier readers this weekend. The front page picture was not taken by a staff photographer, but submitted by a citizen photographer as news. The person sitting in the upper right corner is not identified.

The cutline reads: PHOTO COURTESY OF RICHARD SCHILLING Christopher Lee Siringer’s dogs lie dead in the yard of his home after being shot by a Venice Police Department officer who was trying to arrest him for domestic battery.

5 comments:

  1. JournalismThruTheLyingGlassMon Aug 10, 07:02:00 PM

    The determination of whether to run a sensitive or controversial photo is always a difficult one. It is best made by experienced editors and photojournalists.
    However, since the Gondolier's only staff photojournalist left the paper in 2008, there was no one there representing the ethics of photojournalism.
    To me, the question isn't whether the photo was run or not, it is whether there was even any discussion of whether to run it or not, other than, "hey we have a cool picture of the dead dogs from that police shooting to run with the story."
    And if there was discussion, was there (trust me there isn't) anyone qualified to have a professional discussion that leads to the correct or at the very least an informed decision.

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  2. Horrible! How sad they allowed that to print.

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  3. Always remember and never forget.

    The Bad News Bears are to baseball as the Gondolier is to journalism.

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  4. Be sure to see the Gondo's editorial excuses -- I mean -- "careful deliberation" -- about running that photo. Nowhere do they discuss confirming the validity of the photo or how this citizen photographer obtained it. Also be sure to catch Bob Vedder's column in which he admits joking with the cop about cruelty to animals. They are more inept and pathetic than anyone ever imagined.

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  5. I never saw or heard any evidence of discussion when it came to sensitive photos or news topics during the time I worked at this place. It was a matter of whoever the boss was coming in, looking at a photo and saying, yes or no. Zero discussion about the story that accompanied the photo. It's too bad there are no longer any real photographers at any of this company's "newspapers."

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