A
few weeks ago, readers were shocked by publication of a news story of DailyMail.com involving
a mother who brought her three-year-old son to get tattooed. The incident
reportedly occurred in Cuba, but that remains to be determined.
This
story caught my eye immediately because I was appalled to see that
the online news source published multimedia footage along with the story. Originally
posted on Facebook, two minutes of video footage showed the young child
screaming in agony as he was restrained during the tattooing, and later the
video went viral on Youtube. It seems almost inevitable that in today’s
world of journalism, where nearly everything can be and often times is
published online, that stories about children won’t get thrown into the mix,
but how far is too far?
The story had many comments from readers who were
“disgusted” or “sickened” by the story and even more so by the footage that was
included with the story and shared on YouTube and Facebook. Many argued that if
the incident had occurred in America that the mother would be brought up on
many chargers. But I think the bigger argument is that we as journalists post
this kind of footage of children being tortured onto the worldwide web, where
it then becomes available to anyone and everyone with access.
I
think the media took this story too far, in terms of the safety of the child
and the security. As
journalists, the ethics of the media are determined by us. There needs to be an
effort to distinguish which stories journalists pick up and with what footage,
if any. Of course a story will gain a lot
more viewers by including video footage, since the story itself seems unimaginable and the footage makes it real.
Surely
one of the most important parts of a journalist’s job is to let the world know
that these sorts of things are going on, even if the story sheds negative light
on children. But including video footage of such vulgar and disturbing content
is unnecessary to give the media...though video proof of the story sure does
make for tons of viewer trafficking.
Finding
the fine line within the ethics of media in terms of the security and safety of
children is hard and does seem obvious at times, but ultimately is blurred and
comes down to personal beliefs. Take a look at the story and view the video footage and comment here what you think is right.
Check
out the comments left by more viewers, which speak a lot of truth to whether the footage should have been published in addition to the story.
And make
sure to visit mediaethicsmagazine.com about the ethics of
journalism in the media.
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