Caution: This story may contain disturbing images

www.star.niu.edu By Ben DeVries Photo Editor

How could a picture story about real life situations be so threatening to the public’s disposition? Is the public really frightened to see images about those less fortunate than them? This is one of the many ethical questions and concerns that come up now and again in photojournalism.

Recently a picture story published by the Austin American-Statesman in Texas, also at www.helpjacqui.com, showed some compelling photos of a girl who was involved in a terrible vehicle accident. This picture story depicted her struggle with extensive surgeries and her life as it is now. E-mail this page to a friend Printer-Friendly Version

Jacqui Saburido, originally from Venezuela, was driving home with three friends after a party one night in September 1999 when another driver swerved into their car and both vehicles crashed.

Both the drivers were driving drunk.

Two people in Jacqui’s car died, but she survived with major burns to her body after the car caught fire.

Jacqui’s body was over 60 percent burned from the car wreck and she has gone through and is still going through extensive surgeries to repair her body.

Jacqui lost the use of her hands, the sense of touch over most of her body and most of her vision. After going through many surgeries, she has regained some of her vision and the use of her hands to an extent, but she still has a long way to go.

Some people consider pictures of her “disturbing,” but they’re not.

People would rather just read the story than see the photos, but the photos are the story. We see violence and horror in movies and on television every day, but when it’s really happening, we turn our heads. Why do we try to hide from this reality?

The overall perception of the public seems to be right in the middle of two extremes, neither “shocking” nor “dull,” but just decent. An image in the newspaper that goes beyond the bounds of what the public is used to from newspapers raises concerns about the content presented, but yet the public is faced with much more graphic violence and sexual innuendos on a day to day basis through television and movies.

Another example of this would be a story about a child that was killed a few years ago. The father had suffocated the child, wrapped it in a plastic bag, and buried it in a park not far from his home. After an investigation and some interrogation, the father led the authorities to where the child had been buried. The local newspaper and television station covered the story, and a photo of an officer carrying out the child, still in the plastic bag, ran on the front page of the local newspaper.

The paper got various calls concerning obscenity and invasion of privacy from local residents. This came up as an ethical question the night before it ran with the editors of the newspaper. Should we run this photo or not? The debate came down to this— the story was of legitimate public concern and breaking news that the public needed to know.

There are photos every year that run in the newspaper that people would rather not see. Pictures of car accidents, fire or floods show the gravest of moments for people, but those stories need to be told. In one way or another, those stories will help people think twice. The cause of the problems in each situation is printed in the newspaper after the incident, and they are there for a reason— to inform the public about what is happening around you and to help stop the problem before it starts.

The story of Jacqui is more than just touching; it’s the harsh reality of our mistakes. Every time that someone drives drunk, they are putting themselves at risk, just as Jacqui and her friends did that fateful night.

There are no real words that could describe how powerful the images in this story are.

The photos showed Jacqui’s tremendous courage and will to survive with the help of her family and friends. The will to move on and to teach others about the horror that she went through shows just how far one incident can touch other lives and save them from the fate that she has endured.