The tabloid “New York Post” triggered public outrage when it published on its front page a picture of New York resident Ki-Suk Han struggling to climb out of the subway rail literally seconds before he was struck and killed by an oncoming train. The very headline above the photo reads “Pushed on the subway track, this man is about to die.” Right below the picture is the single word, “DOOMED.”
“Wow! enough time to take a few pictures. Why didn’t the person help? … What an age we live in when getting the picture is more important! I am appalled,” one post on the tabloid’s website read.
The picture has sparked an intense debate about journalism ethics. The photographer in particular has been criticized very harshly for not doing more to help Han escape from the rail. However The Post’s freelance photographer, Umar Abbasi, insisted he began running toward the rail when he noticed the oncoming train and attempted to use his camera to warn the operator. “I just started running, running, hoping that the driver could see my flash,” Abbasi told the Post. Abbasi said other people on the platform also started running toward Han when they noticed him trying to climb out.
“Those who are outraged that the cameraman did not save his life need to ask themselves what they would have done and what they could have done,” said USC Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism professor Marc Cooper. “Because from what I have seen, I am not convinced that the photographer could have saved his life.”
