Capital Gunman Dead: Does the Photo Go Too Far?
Shots rang out in the Denver State Capital yesterday (7/16/07) afternoon when a crazed gunman claiming he was “the emperor” was shot dead by State Troopers. A disturbing incident, which you can read about in greater depth at the Denver Post; however, it’s the post-kill photo that I find highly disturbing — dead man laying in clear view.
While the photo is not outrageously graphic, is “that” photo completely necessary? Do we really need to see the dead gunman — laying dead on the ground?
on July 18th, 2007 at 11:51 am
There’s a decent discussion of this going on here: http://neighbors.denverpost.com/viewtopic.php?t=6395729 .
-Joe Murphy
Denver Post
on July 18th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Thanks for the tip Joe. I’ll try to visit shortly and leave a comment myself.
on July 18th, 2007 at 10:20 pm
I think most people can come up with an mental image of what happened after reading the headline. The picture wasn’t necessary and neither did it add to what my mind had already come up with. Sadly, I think this is a perfect example of “sensationalism sells”.
on July 19th, 2007 at 2:23 pm
Absolutely — sensational sells. And what makes me really sick is that the media turns around and blames us — “It’s the type of uncensored coverage the public demands.” Hey, there is a clear distinction between uncensored and poor taste. The photo was in poor taste.