A Picture is Worth 1,000 Words. Or is it?
When photos don’t tell the whole story (or tell the wrong story).
The death of Freddie Gray mobilized the city of Baltimore. It mobilized people to participate in peaceful protests, and it mobilized a small subset to riot.
While the majority of activity surrounding Mr. Gray’s death was peaceful, the limited violence warranted the majority of mainstream media’s attention.
To counter images of burning buildings and criminal activity, citizens took to the Internet with personal photos of peaceful protests and of Baltimoreans cleaning up their city.
The Baltimore news coverage highlights the challenge images to convey events. An image provides a powerful element to a story, but it is also easy to use images to manipulate emotions. As SecurityKitty recently highlighted, the media is served well by doom and gloom. Stories just don’t get as many clicks when there is no fire, broken glass, or violence.
Should media be giving the people what they want, or what they need?
Media plays an important role in a democracy by transmitting reliable information so citizens can make informed decisions.
We the people…we the media?
With the advent of camera phones and social media, each of us has the opportunity to be the media.
A case in point is the following photo taken by 26-year-old West Baltimore resident (and amateur photographer) Devin Allen that made the cover of Time Magazine.
What has changed since 1968 is the ability for anyone to snap photos and instantly share them with thousands via social media platforms. The Baltimore protests are just one example of how non-traditional media sources are driving the news and how we view it.
Personal images and accounts from events such as the Nepal earthquake show up in our news feeds offering unique perspectives alongside traditional news sources.
More ominously, we are seeing groups like ISIS develop their own robust press machine via magazines, Twitter, and Facebook to drive a specific agenda.
Are we ready for it?
It’s easy to react to one frame or viewpoint. In an increasingly complex world, perhaps we should seek as many camera angles as we can to understand the whole story and make the best decisions. We can’t afford to make policy decisions on fear and emotion. In addition to our ability to create the news, our “recommendations” and “likes” can carry a lot of power when it comes to news coverage in general. Are we ready for it?
Here at SecurityKitty, we want to show all angles of an issue, to include your angle. What do you think about our individual roles in reporting (and promulgating) breaking news?
