Picture - When readers attack

Here's the story, so that I won't out myself (if I already haven't) I'll edit it accordingly. Hopefully.



A 2-year-old boy was killed Tuesday after authorities say he ran in front of a school bus on a private driveway off Wilkins Road in *********.

County Coroner Vernon Collins said Cole A. Ford, of the 400 block of Wilkins Road, was pronounced dead at the scene at 5:09 p.m.

Mr. Collins said Cole either ran in front of the bus or under it and was killed instantly. He said the child's body will be taken today to Augusta's crime lab for an autopsy.

The bus, No. 215, serves ******** Elementary School and was driven by Candy Hammett, 37, of ********, said ******** County sheriff's Capt. Steve Morris.

Ten pupils were on the bus at the time of the incident. Another bus picked up the pupils and drove them to their parents, Capt. Morris said.

Joey Dilliard, a 12-year-old fifth-grader at Brookwood, said he was on the bus when Cole was struck.

"He was running beside the bus like he always does," Joey said.

School officials, including Superintendent Tommy Price, Associate Superintendent Charlie Nagle and School Board Chairman Regina Buccafusco, quickly made their way to the scene after the 4 p.m. accident.

"It just makes you absolutely sick," Mrs. Buccafusco said.

Capt. Morris said officers would continue investigating today to determine how the incident occurred by using mapping and diagraming techniques.

He said the investigation could last several days and would try to determine whether any charges will be filed.

Mr. Collins described Cole's mother, Christina Ford, as being "emotionally destroyed.''

She told Mr. Collins that her son had been standing in a yard near the bus, which was stopped. When the bus began to move, the child ran.

Mr. Collins said the driver, who did not see the boy, stopped when Mrs. Ford yelled.

Cole's father, Eli Ford, and his grandmother arrived at the scene less than 30 minutes later, but all were too distraught too talk.

The last time a child was fatally struck by a school bus in ******** County was Jan. 9, 2001, when 5-year-old Aleana Johnson died right after her bus had dropped her off from her ******** Elementary kindergarten class.

That accident occurred on Highview Drive just behind Bi-Lo on Columbia Road. In that case, Aleana left the bus and turned to walk in front of it. The bus driver, who said he didn't see Aleana, started to pull off, striking the child.

Afterward, the Legislature passed a bill, written by former state Sen. Joey Brush and dubbed Aleana's Law, setting forth safety requirements for school buses and drivers.

******** County has initiated improvements to include annual retraining, monthly in-service training and a requirement of 50 to 100 hours of training before a new bus driver is allowed to drive solo.

 

To be honest, I'm not entirely sure how I feel about that picture being run. The mall shooting photo, I have no problem with. It adds to my understanding of the story, it depicts the action as it was happening. And obviously some horrific images - Kent State, the Vietnamese girl on fire with Napalm, the Oklahoma City bombing - are among the greatest photos ever taken.

But I'm not sure what this picture adds to my understanding of the story. It undeniably captures the father's anguish at the most vulnerable instant of his entire life. That's why it's so compelling. That's also why it feels like an invasion to me.

 

Since the topic's been open, what's the yea or nay on running a photo as the main art on 1A?

http://www.jimlowney.com/mt-archives/eddie_vietnam.jpg

http://www.netrail.org/en113h/materials/nickUT.jpg

http://wizbangblog.com/images/warzone020-thumb.jpg

http://www.hagginmuseum.org/images/pulitzer/1964.jpg

http://www.hemmy.net/2006/07/28/photographer-suicide-pulitzer-winning-photo


These are just some samples, but feel free to respond to any or all. Or add your own.

 

No problem with that. It's what happened.

So run a picture of the dead 2-year-old boy under the wheels of the bus. You know, since our aim is to present to our readers "the blunt and honest truth," give them "a true sense of the disaster." And, oh yeah, win awards.

P.S. My guess is the above photo never would have been published (in any mainstream publication, that is) if it had been taken from the opposite side, showing a big, bloody hole where the guy's face used to be.

 

Run it. It shows in a way that neither words nor 2 minutes of stand-up video could what happened.

Tommy, I might've missed it, but have you gotten any feedback from the father or anyone else in the family?

 

Kevin Carter took the above heart breaking photo of a starving child who collapse on the ground struggling to get to a food center during a famine in 1993. In the background a vulture waits for the death of the child. Haunted by the horrific images from Sudan, Carter commited suicide in 1994 after receiving the award.

But HEY, he won a Pulitzer!!! Woooooooo!!!!!

 

Not that I've heard. But I'll find out later on. I imagine we have, but I would like to think they're too grieved to even think about our little fish wrapper.

 

There was a situation 10 or so years ago in a town near where I live where the local paper ran in color on the front page, a member of the local high school baseball team giving the middle finger salute during a state championship baseball series. The paper caught holy hell about it, but here's the point: This, folks, is part of what your tax dollars support. In this case, there was a lot of acrimony between the two teams, and the picture captured that very well. And I quote Nathan R. Jessup: You can't handle the truth. You guys are right. Readers want feel-good stuff they can clip and put on the fridge.

To me, the deciding factor should be some sort of public angle. Did it happen in public space or was some government or far-reaching entity involved? In this case, it was a school bus. And, the grieving father was sitting on the road. If he doesn't want his grief in the paper -- and granted, this is way callous -- he should grieve in private.

 

Ugh. I can't accept that one.

We can't put the onus on the father here. It's not his choice, it's ours. And I understand you're being callous for the purpose of the argument, but that crosses a line in my mind. Yes, it's a public space -- but just because it happens doesn't mean we can't have some tact about what we do with the information.

I'd like to think we still share some social responsibility when it comes to what we publish and in what context. We shouldn't just throw it out there and let the mob decide. Otherwise, why do we even have judgment if we're not going to use it?

 

Great photo in a tragic situation.

Too many publishers, editors and newspapers lean toward cowering when confronted with the "How dare you!" approach from readers who only want "good" news and photos with their $4.75 coffee and muffin.

 

These are just a few of the rants from our readers.

Also, I was told one of the members of the family wrote a letter to our XE and called us papparazzi.

This is a rant. It was very inconsiderate of you to put a picture of a grieving father on the front page. Give the poor family some privacy.

I think the paper has sunk to a new low. The picture of Eli Ford on the front page of Wednesday’s paper was totally uncalled for. That is the lowest point in a parent’s life and does not need to be publicized and placed on the front page. I think I’m just going to cancel my subscription and ask you to come pick up your paper box from out of the front of my business.

This is a rant for the picture on the front page of today. I think it was very insensitive of you folks to print a picture of a grieving father, and I don’t think it takes a picture like this to sell a newspaper.

My heart goes out to the Ford family who lost their child on Tuesday. I am sitting here reading the front page and it just tears me apart to see that poor father, just as distraught as he is.

This is a rant to the photographer and editor responsible for Eli Ford’s picture on the front page. You should be tarred and feathered for total lack of respect and no common decency whatsoever. Obviously you’re not from the South.
SHAME ON YOU, for publishing the picture of the grieving father. To me this is an invasion of privacy during a very sad time and the media should not publish something like this.

I am extremely disappointed. Your photographer violated the privacy of a grieving father by taking Mr. Ford’s picture and then the newspaper behaved like one of the tabloids by printing it on the front page. I am ashamed of your lack of sensitivity.

I can’t believe The paper published a picture of a grieving father on the front page. How terrible!

YOU SHOULD be ashamed! I
feel the picture of Mr. Ford, who recently lost his 2-year-old son due to an accident, should not have been published in the paper! You have taken the most private, grieving moment of a parent and posted on the front page. To sell papers! Bad taste in my opinion! I hope you sleep well at night!

 

A newspaper person should intellectually have few or no reservations about running the photo.

A person making that decision should, I think, ache on some level about doing so.