Haiti in Ruins

On January 14^th 2010 Haiti was shaken into rubble by a massive earth quake. This quake was so intense that is reached 7 out of 10 on the rector scale, 10 being the highest. The quake’s location was near the largest city in Haiti Port- du- Price, where over 2 million being affected by the disaster. The people of Haiti were left in ruin. There were thousands of people buried under the rubble and not enough rescue teams to save them in time. The suspected body count was near 100 thousand.

One man stated that “For the moment, this is anarchy,” said Adolphe Reynald (NYT), an aid to the port-du-price. There are thousands in need of food, water and shelter. The streets littered with dead bodies from the collapsed buildings.

The media acted swiftly to cover the story, as the reporters trying to get the destruction, horror, and grief on the papers back in the states. This included pictures on the New York Times site of the said dead bodies lying among the rubble, the morgues piling the ones that were not so lucky from the traumatic event.

My question is, does it seem right to show someone’s loved ones mangled and broken in our newspapers or on our websites. Are we disrespecting the lost lives of the disaster, or are we helping by using the graphic photos to better explain the devastation that unfolded. This picture would or could lead the people of our nation to help with the cause.

The point of a journalist is to set light in the darkness, to show people what needs to be seen, was the New York Times in violation of an ethical problem that the media has to deal with everyday. It’s hard to say who is right and wrong, yes the truth needed to be shown, but maybe not with a pile of bodies on the street.

Cave, Damion, Ruth Fremson, Neil MacFarquhar, Helene Cooper, Micheline Maynard, Donald G. McNeil Jr., Jack Healy, Sharon Otterman Ginger Thompson comp. "Patience Wears Thin as Haiti’s Desperation Grows." New York Times. 15 Jan. 2010. Web. 15 Jan. 2010.