Prize Photo Stirs Ethical Debate
POYNTER DECLINED TO PUBLISH

By Ellen Sung
Poynter.org Reporter

The National Press Photographers Association gave a top award to a previously unpublished, highly sensitive photograph last week, setting off a controversy over publishing standards on various platforms.

On March 27, NPPA released a digitally manipulated version of the prize photograph on its website. The image shows a woman being sexually assaulted during the violent culmination of Mardi Gras in Seattle last year.

"The decision to publish this powerful and thought provoking image is [made] on the basis to bring awareness to the event and to protect the identity of the female victim," said NPPA president Clyde Mueller. "It is important to note that the contest criteria for the selection of the image is different than the criteria used by the editors of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer."

Although other top photojournalism prizes have been awarded to unpublished photographs, contest observers say they cannot recall another winner whose publication was more heavily debated. Last week, Poynter.org decided to withhold the image from its presentation of NPPA Best of Photjournalism winners out of respect for the privacy of the victim. The woman has never been identified.

Mike Urban of the Seattle Post-Intelligencer took the picture after scrambling to a fire escape to avoid a violent crowd.

"I saw this woman who in typical Mardi Gras fashion was asked to raise her top," Urban recalled to Poynter.org. "When she refused, they [the men around her] began to reach at her and tear her clothes… It happened so fast that the sea of people cleared and the woman just disappeared. There was no time for me to do anything."

The Post-Intelligencer did not run the photograph, in part because they were unable to identify the victim. "We had a photograph that certainly we knew was sensitive in nature, and one of the key stakeholders wasn't able to be a part of the discussion," said Ken Bunting, the newspaper's executive editor.

Although the photo was not published, it led to a front-page story the next day about a series of sexual assault incidents during the riots. In addition, the winning frame and several others were given to police to help identify perpetrators of the crime.

After Urban entered the photograph in the NPPA contest, it appeared for a few weeks on a site showcasing thousands of other entries. Mueller says the organization never heard a word of complaint about the image.

On March 19, during judging held at The Poynter Institute, the photograph was awarded first place from a field of more than 600 entries in the Best of Photojournalism contest's Domestic News (Newspaper) category. NPPA officials began discussing whether the image should run in their own book and CD-ROM of winners.

The image also posed a dilemma for Poynter, which had agreed to run the winning images on its web site. The next morning, Poynter administration and online editors met with NPPA and contest officials.

"The discussion was a matter of weighing the potential harm to the woman versus the potential good of publishing," said Bill Mitchell, Poynter online/marketing director.

When he first saw the picture, Mitchell recalled, he was struck by how gravely it invaded the woman's privacy. "I felt really pained," he said. "Then I tried to put myself in the shoes of the woman herself or anyone who knows her, and that magnified the pain dramatically."

Despite the photograph's potential value as a teaching tool and case study, Poynter.org decided to withhold the image and not to link to versions that might be published elsewhere. The frame also was removed from the online gallery of entries.

But some contest judges felt that the winning photograph should be seen. "This is one powerful picture," said Brian Storm, MSNBC director of multimedia. "It is tough to look at, but it is about what journalism is. We have a responsibility for caring for the victim and to show people the reality of this horrible act."

NPPA deliberated for a week internally and with Urban, Bunting, and a sexual abuse counselor before deciding to release the digitally altered photograph in their book, CD-ROM, and on their web site. Although the woman's face is pixelated, the perpetrators' faces are recognizable.

"It's not a regularly applied approach, but it is an option that newspapers have used to conceal the identity of victims,… in places where cropping is not possible," said Poynter visual journalism group leader Kenny Irby.

Urban hopes that although he was unable to help the woman during the riot, the publication of the photograph will do some good.

"There's this sense that sometimes photographers should be more than just witnesses," Urban said. "And given the circumstances of the photo I was obviously unable to do something. But I think what I'm doing, after having taken this photo, is raising consciousness."