Lesson Outline
March 14, 2013
In August 2009, AP photographer Julie Jacobson was embedded with a unit of Marines fighting in Afghanistan during the US conflict. During her time with the unit, Jacobson was part of an ambush carried out by Taliban fighters. One of the Marines in the unit, Lance Corporal Joshua Bernard was mortally injured during the ambush.
Jacobson captured a photo of Bernard as his comrades worked to keep him calm after a rocket propelled grenade had severed his legs. The graphic photo which showed Jacobson in anguish over the injury was published by the AP, and run prominently in a number of US newspapers, and news websites.
The depiction of a soldier's last moments caused controversy over the decision to run the photo, as many deemed it too graphic for readers. This interactive lesson features audio remarks from the AP's Senior Vice President & Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll who spoke to students at Stony Brook University about the controversy and the thinking behind the running of the photo.
News Literacy Connections:
- Lesson 11: The Power of Images
- Lesson 5: What is News, and Who Decides?
- Lesson 3: The US News Media: Too Much Freedom or Not Enough?
Lesson Guiding Questions:
- What can you see in this photograph?
- Would you think of this photograph has graphic?
- Is the content inappropriate to be published?
- If the soldier in the photo was a friend or family member of yours, would you want the photo published?
- What questions do you think that the photo editors of the AP would have had to ask themselves in order to decide to run this photo?
- What considerations have to be made in the decision making process of running the photo?
- What might be the consequences of running it?
- What might be the consequences of not running the photo?
Lesson Media:
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Interactive Prezi w/photos, audio, and questions |
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Lens Blog on Publishing the Controversial Photo - NYTimes PDF |
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