Covering tragedy delicately: Four Pulitzer Prize recipients give advice on approaching victims and survivors, writes Bobby Ross Jr.
You need to ask victims or family members for permission to intrude in their most vulnerable moments.
Tag Archives: Pulitzer Prize
Fake News vs. Facts
Fake News vs. facts: Indira Lakshmanan says the Washington Post deserves a Pulitzer Prize for journalism ethics.
The Post’s investigative journalism “was most extraordinary for its transparency, breaking the fourth wall between the newsroom and readers by revealing those techniques to readers — showing how reporters got the story,” she writes. That reassured the public about the paper’s motives, methods and findings, and inoculated the Post against false claims, she says.
Pulitzer Prize Reaction
Pulitzer Prize reaction: Ryan Kelly, Pulitzer Prize winner for breaking news photography, tells Justin Ray his reaction to getting the prize for a photo of a car crashing into a crowd of protesters.
“This experience has been bittersweet, and it is way more bitter than sweet,” says Kelly. “A person died, a lot of people were injured, people were in shock, a community has been terrorized.”
Pulitzer Prize’s Future
Pulitzer Prize’s future: Meg Dalton writes that since 1917, 84 percent of Pulitzer Prize winners were men and 84 percent were white.
The Pulitzer Prize administrator tells Dalton “there so much going on in our country that speaks to diversity that will drive diversification. But our selection of a more diverse jury pool will impact that as well.”
Picture This, A Newspaper With No Photographers
By Casey Bukro
Journalists are hardened by now to the continuous drumbeat of layoffs and cutbacks ripping through journalism these days, so it’s not easy to shock them.
But many were shaken by the news that the Chicago Sun-Times laid off its entire staff of 28 full-time photographers, planning to use freelance photographers and reporters to shoot pictures.
It’s ironic, really. The Sun-Times is a tabloid, dating to 1844, which built a powerful reputation on the smart and creative use of photos. Of the eight Pulitzer Prizes won by the paper, two were for photography. It was known as a picture newspaper.
What was management thinking? In a statement, it said the “business is changing rapidly and our audiences are consistently seeking more video content with their news.” Their vision is a video newspaper. Management usually has the final word in such matters.
Sun-Times reporters joined the laid-off photographers in a peaceful demonstration outside the newspaper building. The Society of Professional Journalists code of ethics says everyone, including our colleagues, is deserving of respect.
The laid-off photographers are taking it like the professionals they are.
But how many set-backs can a great newspaper take?
When Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. bought the Sun-Times in 1984, it was recast in the gaudy Murdoch image, complete with bikini-clad pinups. It was his idea of what sells newspaper. Murdoch seriously misjudged Chicago, thinking it was a blue-collar town of steel workers. Some of his star columnists defected in disgust. And they keep going.
After selling off assets, Murdoch sold the Sun-Times and left it weakened.
In 1994, the Sun-Times was bought by a company controlled by Canadian-born press baron Conrad Black. In 2007, Black was convicted of fraud and stealing $60 million from company stockholders, and sent to jail.
And now, new management is set to work its magic. Let’s hope the Sun-Times catches a break this time. It could use one.
Ethics AdviceLine for Journalists 