ethical issue

The Ethics of Photojournalism
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Two months ago, The New York Times published a searing portrait of Amal Hussain. The photo of the emaciated 7-year-old girl lying on a hospital bed was taken in war-torn Yemen. It elicited impassioned responses from readers. A few days later, Amal died. While some readers hoped that the graphic image of Amal’s distress would turn the world’s attention to the war which had claimed many Yemeni lives through violence, hunger or disease, others turned their anguish to the New York Times. They wondered what else the journals did to save Amal’s life other than taking the picture.
Amal’s photo evoked some legitimate questions concerning the ethics of photojournalism. Should photojournalists help the suffering people they photograph? The primary work of photojournalists is to bear witness, it is aid workers’ and doctors’ job to help people. Giving some form of assistance like food or money raises a number of ethical and practical intricacies. For example, is singling out one individual or family for assistance fair? Furthermore, they could embellish their situation to every other foreigner in a bid to get more assistance (Mitchell, 2000).
Another principle of photojournalism is never to alter or unnaturally influence a scene. Consequently, many photojournalists never seek permission before taking photos because people behave differently when they are aware that they are being photographed. Therefore, such photos don’t the reality.

This raises the issue of the right to privacy since most photos are published without the knowledge or consent of the victims (Mitchell, 2000).
If I were the leader of The New York Times there’s nothing I could have done since I don’t see anything wrong with the photo. Photojournalism has the simple duty of showing reality. Photojournalists are simply messengers and are not responsible for the plight of the subjects of their photography.
References
Mitchell, J. (2000). The Ethics of Photojournalism. Studies in Christian Ethics, 13(1), 1-16.