- coolmike699
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- Fabled Heroic Member
Poll: Was this inappropriate of this newspaper? [closed]
Total Votes: 8
Article
The cover of Tuesday's New York Post - which shows a man moments before he was fatally struck by a subway train - is sparking outrage from readers.
Han, a 58 year old father from Queens, was pushed into the subway tracks by "a deranged man" on Monday afternoon. One witness said that he was caught between the platform and the train, and dragged. The front page of the Post showed Han trying to lift himself back onto the platform at the 49th Street station as a Q train approached.
On Tuesday, readers asked why the photographer didn't try to help Han instead. The picture was taken by R. Umar Abbasi, whom the Post described as a "freelance photographer." The paper and Abbasi said that he was running toward the train and "repeatedly firing off his flash to warn the operator."
I don't want to judge the actions of the photographer. That is pointless, and silly. Rather, I want to ask whether the paper was in the wrong by running that photo on the first page, especially with that headline.
I think that it is extremely tasteless sensationalism. I think that putting the photo in the story would have been a much better option. I think that putting the photo on the front page is capitalizing on the man who died's death.
Do you agree with me that the New York Times is guilty of sensationalizing a murder in progress? Or should it be acceptable to run the most gripping photo on the front page, even if some think it is exploitative?