Photo Controversy

 This morning I posted the "morning news" at Strollerderby, leading with the violence in Gaza and illustrated by this photo.

Several readers were outraged at the photo and it was eventually replaced by a less disturbing one of a child gazing at some rubble.

Let me back up and tell you the process behind my decision to post the photo, knowing it would disturb some people.

Last night, while browsing for morning news, I could no longer avoid the fact that the events in Gaza are the leading story of every news outlet I use--t.v., radio, newspapers, online magazines, etc.  The Guardian's headline "'I looked back and saw three of my children, dead'" was the last straw.

I felt that after a week of avoiding this story at Strollerderby, I couldn't do so any longer, in good conscience, seeing as it is the global story of the week.  And as a mother, I couldn't stand reading any more about the deaths of civilians--many of them women and children--without drawing attention to the problem, given my ability to speak to a large audience of parents, whose heart-strings would probably be just as tugged as mine by this news.

I used the picture because I know all too well how words like "nearly 600 civilian deaths" can be skimmed over with a tut-tut and left sitting.  A photo of babies killed in violence that has nothing at all to do with them?  Of mourning family members?  That was something that I felt would call out to people as loudly as the Guardian headline had called out to me.

So I posted the picture knowing it might get me in some trouble with readers and it did.  But there are too many mothers who don't have the luxury of looking away.  Those babies deserve to be properly mourned by us all--not skimmed over in pursuit of something funnier or cuter.

And that's why I did it.

What do you all think?

Comments

[jlp]

It's my belief that readers should have been outraged by the photo -- but for the fact that it exists, not because it was posted.

Though perhaps I misunderstand the general tone and readership of Strollerderby? I guess I don't understand being upset with the messenger.

[Allie]

People should see the reality of what is happening.

[Beck]

I completely agree with you. I see so many articles skim over the civilian statistics without really pausing to realize the reality of it all. I'm glad you took the chance to put real faces to the text (no matter how disturbing it is).

[Beck]

I completely agree with you. I see so many articles skim over the civilian statistics without really pausing to realize the reality of it all. I'm glad you took the chance to put real faces to the text (no matter how disturbing it is).

[LilySea]

Ah, Allie--not in the U.S.!
We aren't allowed to see flag-draped coffins coming back from Iraq.
Our tender little eyes can't handle reality.
It's the BBC where I'm getting the most news on the humanitarian crisis of Gaza rather than the fiddly political tangle this will be for Obama next week...

[Jody]

Based on your text here, I expected the photo to be much more graphic when I enlarged it out of bloglines. I can see nothing outrageous about the photo's presentation of the facts -- children are dying. But your experience at StrollerDerby so far has been teaching me some lessons about how audiences shift when you leave personal blog space.

[GforU]

Reality and truth are often not comfortable. It is what it is and unless there were some objection from the family members of the children, I don't see any problem with posting it.

[Margie]

What disturbs me is that people who protest photos like this one often do it out of (perhaps feigned) respect for the victims. But I think it's usually more because we just don't want to see something we should take action on, but know we won't.

I think using your original photo was appropriate. The situation is dire, and we need to see the reality of it.

[Kikilia]

Kudos to you.

[Lori]

This type of thing has been going on in Gaza for centuries. Maybe more pictures like that are what we need.

Face it....the truth hurts.

[Kate]

Hmm...normally I would agree wholeheartedly with your commenters. I am not the type of person who sticks her head in the sand about these kinds of things; I donate money and write letters, and am generally horrified by what's done in my name by the government. I think the US population in general are in serious need of an education about the world around them.

But right now, I'm pregnant and experiencing some depression, and one of the first things I knew I needed to do was take a "news-break". I think for myself and probably some other people who are already fairly world-aware, getting too much bad news can sometimes just be immobilizing.

So, go ahead and educate. Just be aware that some folks don't have the mental capability to handle the horror at a particular moment...

[ina]

It's unbearable. Thanks, Shannon. As you point out, US readers in particular need to see this.

[Donita]

Then, hello, don't look at the picture, right? Regardless, keep it up, Shan!

[Thorn]

I'm certainly outraged, but not at the photo. I think your thought process makes sense completely and while I realize people are upset by seeing dead children, how could they not be? This is one of those things you can't shield yourself from in a way that's different from, say, illustrating some article about inappropriate nude photos of children with copies of those photos.

[Shereen]

I think there's a qualitative difference between you posting that picture, and a newspaper doing so. A newspaper/news station does it primarily to sell themselves, ie. 'if it bleeds, it leads'. I object to that for the reason that it amounts to war and poverty porn; the danger is that we can become inured to photos of dead babies, and the 'flies in their eyes' pictures of human misery we see all too often, as a means of trying to make us do something or buy something.

On the other hand, though, I agree that it's harder to turn away from a picture. And often outrage is the opening point of awareness. Just because people are outraged doesn't mean it was wrong to post the picture. But we have to know that each of those pictures lessens the impact of the one after it.

So, short story long, I struggle with my opinion about things like that picture, and how (or whether) it should be used - or taken. But on the other hand, it's pretty silly to shoot the messenger too; your audience should, as another poster said above, be outraged that the pictures can exist at all.

[Mayhem]

The comments by Margie and Shereen are particularly interesting. I agree with Margie--I got the impression that the outrage was less about respect for the victims and families and more about our own ability to stay isolated from what's going on.

I agree with Shereen as well that exposure to this kind of image gradually lessens the impact. But for me and most American parents that I know, we're not at that point yet. Personally I think we're still needing to be prodded to action. Even if this image just helps us understand a little better why there is so much hate and violence in the world... Not that hate is a helpful response, but it does make sense to me that a parent would hate whoever did this to her baby...

[Mayhem]

The comments by Margie and Shereen are particularly interesting. I agree with Margie--I got the impression that the outrage was less about respect for the victims and families and more about our own ability to stay isolated from what's going on.

I agree with Shereen as well that exposure to this kind of image gradually lessens the impact. But for me and most American parents that I know, we're not at that point yet. Personally I think we're still needing to be prodded to action. Even if this image just helps us understand a little better why there is so much hate and violence in the world... Not that hate is a helpful response, but it does make sense to me that a parent would hate whoever did this to her baby...

[Elise]

No offense, but I don't think people are going to Strollerderby looking for real news and political insight. That said, do you think the response might have been different had the story been about dead Israeli babies? Palestinians don't get a lot of sympathy around these here parts (USA).

Hang in there, you're fighting the good fight.

[Amanda]

I agree with your decision to post it, and I hope that it puts a real face to what's happening there. It's a disgusting, sad reality, but it's a reality. Nice work.