When should a newspaper publish a gory picture depicting human death?
Some papers publish such photos for sensationalism; others consider whether the pictures convey a valuable message.
Many newspapers recently struggled with whether to publish images of two events – a man speared to death by a bull’s horn, and a cyclist who died after smashing his head against a concrete block on the side of a road.
Both deaths were linked to news events: the running of the bulls in Spain, and the prestigious Tour de France bicycle race.
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Matthew Tassio was gored in the chest after mingling with six fighting bulls during the annual festival in Pamplona, Spain. While 13 people have died during that festival in the past, nobody had been killed since 1980.
But each year the news photographers line the route, anticipating tragedy. From overhead and from the side, they captured the images of the bull lifting Tassio into the air, and of Red Cross medics treating his bloodied body.
Some newspapers, such as the one in the man’s hometown of Chicago, ran the photos. The Chicago Sun Times placed on page one the victim flying through the air. No blood was visible in the shot.
Other papers didn’t run the images. What purpose was served by the pictures? Proving that running with dangerous bulls is sheer stupidity?
Then came another picture.
The Italian cyclist Fabio Casartelli was unable to make a steep curve while racing in France. He became the third fatality since the Tour de France began in 1903.
The picture, published in full color by papers around the world, including some prairie papers, showed the cyclist lying on his side with blood streaming from his head. He wore no helmet. Again, stupidity.
While grim, the picture has value. It showed readers and cyclists what could perhaps have been prevented.
