Secret Frames of Journalism

Secret frames of Journalism
by Renier Cronje
Scene: The blazing sun shoots stinging rays of heat upon a war struck plane in a country where luxuries are unheard of and poverty is the in thing. Broken families struggle to survive everyday as food is scarce and leaves thousands of people dead each day. The people are malnourished; tears stream down the children's faces begging for food and water while adults contemplate whether or not to save themselves or the starving children when food is provided. Many of the children have lost their parents and have no one to care for them. On the outskirts of a food shelter,a child-aged about four or five- struggles along to the shelter for her scraps of food and is found clinging to his life by a thread on the boiling stones while a vulture awaits her death 1m away.
Situation: You are a Journalist who has come to this country to help these people by making their story heard to the world. Your life back home is fast-paced, exciting and secure. You entered the world of Journalism to be a success and to be well-known for your work in helping others. You have decided to document the journey these people have embarked on hoping to go home and publish your work.
Options: Your focus is on the struggling child. You can either photograph this child as much as possible and hope to get an award winning shot OR you could put your equipment down and help the child survive.
This was a true story which happened to a South African photojournalist, Kevin Carter. His career was rocketed into the lime light when his photograph of a dying girl with a vulture standing over her was published in the New York times in March 1993. The photograph was taken in Sudan during a time where families were dying of member by member due starvation.
After the photograph was published, endless criticism flooded toward Kevin. Organizations were asking why he did not put his camera down and help the girl?; what type of person could watch a little girl die in front of them without helping?
The rumour behind Kevin's depression was that after watching the child for an hour he shooed waya the vulture and sat under a tree, smoking cigarettes, watching until the child eventually died an hour later. The constant criticism sent Kevin into a deep depression and he vowed to return to Africa to help the as many as he could. Several months after being awarded the coveted Pulitzer Prize, a journalistic golden globe, Kevin did return to Africa but only to commit suicide and give in to his own guilt. Despite the ethical questions raised, Kevin contributed to highlighting the degree of poverty which faced Africa and helped Organizations raise millions to aid those in need.
This story leads to my point. Journalism is a career where one will always be conflicted. Photojournalism especially. A photojournalist is required to produce photographs that would invoke intensive emotional responses without using words. Various publications around the world pride themselves on using pictures over words to tell stories, examples would be all forms of tabloid newspapers and Documentary themed magazines etc.
Various genres of photojournalism exist. Photojournalists may border extreme ethical issues to convey a message to the public. One example would be of Joel Peter who uses the bodies of the deceased; hermaphrodites; transsexuals; dwarfs; mentally and physically disabled people etc. to invoke emotional responses.
Another genre of photojournalism could be described best in Dorothea Lange's work. Dorothea focused on capturing the Humanity within people and their situations. Her most famous piece of work, Migrant Mother, resulted in people realizing that Africa was not the only place in trouble. Dorothea did not ask the woman many questions, just her age and asked what she had done to ensure her children were provided with food. Dorothea learned that the lady had been taking vegetables from fields and her children had killed birds which they ate. She had sold everything they own to keep her children alive but Dorothea did nothing but take pictures.
The questions I am therefor forced to ask is;
Where does one draw a line before taking action, if any?
Will organizations ever decide that photojournalism is a form of abuse/torture if they allow people to suffer?
Does photojournalism really aid in saving people?