The controversy of this article is based on the printing of nude photographs of a person who was accused of a crime. The paper that ran the article was Munhwa Ilbo, a Korean daily. They ran the nude photographs of Shin Jeong-ah. Shin was accused of creating a fake Yale University diploma and having an "inappropriate relationship" with a secretary.
The paper ran these photos because they thought the photos may be clear evidence of Shin offering sex to authorities for career opportunities. The Korean Press Ethics Commission has stated the photos are not evidence in the case, and that the paper printing the photos has damaged the dignity and reliability of all print media.
I do not know much about foreign media, but I am presuming that running a nude photo of a person without there consent is a bad idea in most parts of the world. So, ethically, I think running the photos was a poor choice in the first place. Also, at this point, Shin was only charged with allegations. He was not convicted of anything, so running the photos that you believe might show his guilt is a risky move. If he ends up innocent, the paper could have ruined his reputation for nothing.
If I was in the editor's position I wouldn't have ran the photos. I say it was irresponsible to run them because he was nude and because he may be innocent.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
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8 comments:
I agree that running a nude picture of a man is not appropriate or "news worthy," no matter who he is. Granted we and Korea have differing cultural and social mores, I would doubt that their culture would deem nudity acceptable daily news. I would not want to wake up to a picture like that with my coffee and cereal! I believe there are other, more effective, ways to communicate that story. However, it succeeded in catching or attention.
I believe that printing the nude pictures was a poor decision because the man had not yet been proving guilty. The journalist could be sued for damaging the mans reputation. The pictures are not part of the evidence and only makes the journalist appear irrational and immature. You can argue your case without pulling cheap shots like publishing nude photos of someone.
It was definitely a poor decision to print the nude photos of the man. Printing photos and / or words could be damaging to a person’s reputation and it was irresponsible of the Korean daily newspaper.
I believe the majority of media receives a bad rap and it does not help the image of the media with situations like this. The Korean Press Ethics Commission should punish the newspaper for the printing of the photos, no matter if the man is found guilty or not.
Although the photo would definetely grab attention and maybe more readers, I do not believe that printing the picture was newsworthy or appropriate. I think there were other options for this paper to create a newsworthy piece. It does not seem to me that this picture was even relevant to the story. The story appeared to me to be a piece of accusations against the man and about inappropriate behavior. The photo does not add anything to the story other than a shock factor.
I do not think that nude photos should be exposed in print in any respectable news source. In addition, Shin was not yet convicted of any crime.
He may have commited a crime, but it does not justify the actions of Munhwa Ilbo. They were completely out of line and I am impressed that they are being forced to apologize for their poorly thought out decisions. The ethical line was definitely crossed in this situation.
Shock factor should be left out of reliable and trustworthy news sources. Leave that stuff up to the National Enquirer or other gossip magazines and papers.
Nudity is an interesting concept however. Being Americans, we have a natural tendancy to shun the human body due to our upbringing. But something like this to appear in Euorpe would barely raise a yelp. I guess it'd have to depend on the circumstance and the situation...
I also agree that running a nude picture in a public paper is worng. Although this man has been accused of certain acts, it does not give reason to run those pictures. I do not understand what the point of running them would be. It seems as though the paper was just working to make it so the case gets attention but it is not the appropriate attention. I believe that stating the facts of the story and possibly mentioning the photos in the article would be suffice, rather than posting them. It doens not make the paper seem credible and would make me question their accountability and their over dramatizations of different stories.
I agree, I think it was very unethical for the editor to allow these images into the article. There is no "news worthy" story coming out of these pictures, the only thing that is is humiliation for the victim. Although he did commit a crime this was not ethical of the editor what so ever.
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