A graphic picturesapparently taken by police to document Rihanna's injuries after her alleged assault has surfaced and sparked a discussion about whether a line has been crossed by the media and if posting this photos has any editorial value at all. I've had to answer that question once.
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In the course of a story I was reporting, pictures of the subject's abuse were made available to me. The story wasn't about domestic abuse, per se, and it could still be reported accurately without revealing these photos. Ultimately, they didn't run. But in this case—a story about an alleged altercation involving celebrities where the ciurcumstances and severity of the incident are in question—- I dunno. It's a harder call. When you are a celebrity, you give up a certain amount of privacy, but do you give up your humanity?
All this at the top, if I were an editor, it might give me pause, but I'd have to run the photos. Rihanna's assault is a news story that the public has a keen interest in.
What do you think?
Single Father, Author, Screenwriter, Award-Winning Journalist, NPR Moderator, Lecturer and College Professor. Habitual Line-Stepper
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