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| Nov. 9, 2004, Associated Press --Baghdad Shooting This image is one of three capturing the executions of two Iraqi elections workers by terrorists in Baghdad. Would you run this photo? On front page of newspaper and on website: Journalists: 38% / Readers: 34% On inside page of newspaper and on website:| On website only: Only link to an outside source from website: Would not run image at all: |
A set of three photographs captured one of the more alarming scenes to play out in Baghdad in recent weeks: the executions of two Iraqi election workers, by terrorists in broad daylight in the middle of a street. Three-quarters of the journalists and nearly two-thirds of the readers would have published one of the photos in print.
Their reasons weren't complicated. Ask Danny Schoenbaechler, a reader from Bowling Green, Ky.: "This picture shows just how rough Iraq is and just how awful the terrorists are."
Many others noted the way this image displayed the brazen ways of the insurgency. Others were impressed by the heroism of everyday Iraqis. "I think it's a powerful aid to stories explaining the terrible risks taken by Iraqis trying to rebuild their country," said Patrick Springer, a journalist from Fargo, N.D.
Springer was among many who were reminded of Eddie Adams' Pulitzer Prize-winning photo from the Vietnam War, an iconic image of a South Vietnamese police chief executing a Viet Cong suspect in 1968. Kristyna Wentz-Graff, a journalist from Appleton, Wis., saw the same parallel.
"It's images like this ... that make change," she said. "This is crazy, people being executed in the streets. These type of images prompt people to care and have opinions about events that are worlds away."
Some respondents said technical issues might keep them from playing the photo on the front page; it's difficult to tell what's going on without the aid of a caption. Others said they'd run the photo, but wanted to be sure there would be enough context in print to tell its story. Then others said there's no excuse -- ever -- for showing a person in the process of being killed. But the most significant worry was over the photo's possible side effects: By publicizing the Baghdad executions, are we giving the terrorists exactly what they want?
"These murderers obviously adore the limelight -- conducting their crimes in broad daylight in front of numerous observers," said Melissa Chinn, a reader from Pine City, Minn. "Don't allow them further satisfaction."
Journalists described the same fears, but most decided that providing an accurate description of terrorist tactics and the danger in Baghdad outweighed them.
"People need to know what kind of evil and vile events are taking place in the world in order to help stop it," said Tony Overman, a journalist from Olympia, Wash. "This photo conveys the evil, without being graphically offensive."