1. and Photojournalism
THE LAW
John Long (1989), of the Hartford Courant and former president of the NPPA, wrote:
Each day when you step out onto the street, remember that you have been granted a
sacred trust to be truthful. You have the responsibility to produce only honest images. You
have no right to set up pictures; you have no right to stage the news; you have no right to
distort the facts. Your fellow citizens trust you. If you destroy the credibility of your
work, even in small ways, it destroys the credibility of your newspaper or TV station in the
eyes of the people you are covering.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yowaA2R5peg
http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/sept11/2002-09-02-jumper_x.htm
http://vimeo.com/43697549

2. QUESTIONS TO THINK ABOUT…
• The National Press Photographers Association Code of Ethics states that the
“primary goal” of the photojournalist is the “...faithful and comprehensive
depiction of the subject at hand.”
• Can you pose a news photo?
• Can you alter it?
• Are the results of these actions “faithful and comprehensive?”
• Should a war photographer put down his camera in order to help an injured
soldier?
• If someone asks not to be photographed, is it ethical to photograph that
person anyway?
http://vimeopro.com/photowings/foundry-workshop-2011/video/34967291

3. 6 ETHICAL PHILOSOPHIES
• The Categorical Imperative is a distilled version of Kant’s notion
that what is acceptable for a single person should be acceptable
for everyone, almost like a theoretical “nondiscrimination
clause.”
• For example, suppose a newspaper editor is trying to decide
whether to publish an image of a partially nude young woman
fleeing a house fire. That editor should consider whether he
would publish the image under different circumstances - if the
subject was male, or elderly, or obese. The Categorical
imperative says that what goes for one should go for everyone.

4. ETHICAL PHILOSOPHIES
• Utilitarianism as a philosophy attempts to weigh positives and
negatives of a situation, and maximize the good for the greatest
number of people.
• For example, if gruesome photos of a car crash offend the
victims’ families, but shock the community into driving
safely, then by Utilitarianism the taking and publication of those
photos is deemed to be ethical.

5. ETHICAL PHILOSOPHIES
• Hedonism represents the “do what feels good” school of
thought, and might be used to justify printing explicit photos
simply because they are titillating.
• Publishing a provocative front page photo simply for the sake of
selling newspapers would be an example of hedonism.

6. ETHICAL PHILOSOPHIES
• The Golden Mean philosophy concerns compromise. If there is
a less intrusive, offensive, or disagreeable photo that still tells
the story, that is the better option. The emphasis is on finding
middle ground rather than an all-or-nothing approach.

7. ETHICAL PHILOSOPHIES
• The Veil of Ignorance asks the photographer or editor to
consider how they would feel if they were the subject. If they
would not feel good in the subject’s place, it would be better to
look for a different image.

8. ETHICAL PHILOSOPHIES
• The Golden Rule is sometimes phrased “love thy neighbor as
thyself.”
• As an ethical philosophy it requires that a photographer or editor
treat his subjects as he would treat himself. This, of
course, leaves decisions subject to the
photographer’s, editor’s, or institution’s ethics.

9. Nick Ut’s “Napalm Girl” photograph, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize in 1972, is not only a
shocking indictment of America’s war effort, it contains full frontal nudity of a minor. The ultimate
decision to print the photo on the front page of The New York Times must not have been easy.
Editors at The Times chose to sacrifice the girl’s privacy, and perhaps to offend their readers in
order to present an unflinching picture of the conflict and ultimately to serve the greater good.

10. PRIVACY AND PHOTOJOURNALISM
United States law gives subjects of photography some rights as it relates to
areas of privacy and security.
• Trespassing. This means being on private property without authorization.
• Photojournalists need to be careful about going under fences, through doors
and generally into areas likely designated as private.
• If a facility is open to the public, a photojournalist can go into it “for its
designated purpose.”
• That means you can go into a shopping mall, hospital, school, restaurant or
store. BUT you can’t take pictures—because that’s not its “designated
purpose.”
• You must seek out permission.

11. GETTING ARRESTED
• Many of us have read stories of photojournalists getting
arrested for trespassing, interfering with police, or
somehow becoming involved in a protest gone violent.
• In the United States, however, the law allows fairly wide
latitude.
• News photographer usually have the legal right to take
photos in a public place—whether or not they do it
ethically.
• Note ethics and law are two separate things!

12. PRIVACY AND LAW ENFORCEMENT
• Trespassing laws apply even if a photojournalist accompanies law
enforcement.
• For example, you may have permission to ride along with a police “party
patrol” going to bust minors for underage drinking.
• But if you take photos of people drinking on private property, you risk a
lawsuit.
• Allowing photojournalists to accompany law enforcement has become less
common as the lawsuit risk has increased.

13. GOVERNMENT PLACES AND OFFICIALS
• Generally photojournalists are attracted to the same events that
attract law enforcement:
accidents, fires, arrests, riots, disasters.
• But law enforcement people aren’t generally enthusiastic about
having photojournalists at these events.
• One common trick it to arrest the photojournalist
temporarily, drop charges a few days later, when it’s too late to
cover the story.
• If you have a good relationship with law enforcement, and
approach an event with tact and persuasion, you may get a
better outcome.

14. LAW ENFORCEMENT
• Some photojournalists try to get to an event before law
enforcement, knowing they’ll be kicked out as soon as
police arrive.
• This leads to those lamentable episodes of
photojournalists insensitively snapping away after an
accident or disaster.
• But photojournalists know they must come back with
the pictures, or risk wrath of the editor.
• And they also know their readers do actually look at
those pictures.

15. YOUR RIGHTS TO THE SIDEWALK
• Legally a photojournalist has the right to stand in a public
place, say, the public sidewalk, and take photos.
• But the police can arrest you anyway, on a charge of “disorderly
conduct,” if they don’t want you to take pictures.
• In other words, they can keep you away from an event for pretty
much any reason they want.
• Note: laws that apply to photojournalists also apply to the public
with smartphones.

16. PUBLIC BUILDINGS
• Regarding federally owned buildings, generally you are free to
photograph in the pubic areas, unless told it’s specifically off limits.
• The Postal Service allows photography in lobbies and public areas.
• Schools depend on state law. If pupils are under 18, it’s a tricky area.
• Even if you stand on a public sidewalk photographing children, you
may be legally entitled, but you may be questioned by parents or
school officials.
• The public spaces within universities generally are legally open to
photojournalists.
• The classrooms, residence halls and labs generally aren’t.

17. COURTROOMS
• Photography in the courtroom has been a matter of extensive
debate in the United States
• Currently it’s left up to the states or judges to decide.
• It’s closely controlled in most instances. You can’t just walk
around taking pictures.

18. PICTURES ON THE STREETS
• On the streets, the sidewalks, the parks and other public places,
you usually have the legal right to take pictures.
• These are the areas legally safest for photojournalism.
• If you are doing something on the public streets and related
areas, by U.S. law you are accepting the possibility of being
photographed.

19. THE STREETS AND ETHICS
• Even though a photojournalist is legally permitted to take
pictures in public areas, is he or she ethically permitted?
• This is one reason editors require photographers to get
identification: it implies the subject is all right with being
photographed.
• Editors don’t want to hear from irate people complaining of
being photographed, even if it is legal.
• What is the person is an accident victim, or in an embarrassing
situation? Usually photographing them in public still is
considered legal, though it may be unethical.

20. INVASION OF PRIVACY
Trespassing is one area of the law applicable to photojournalism. So is invasion
of privacy. Privacy law includes these areas most applicable to photojournalism:
• Appropriation of an image for another use.
• Photojournalists have fairly wide legal ability to use an image in a news
publication.
• But they can’t use that image for another purpose. For example, they can’t
use it in an advertisement or promotional campaign.
• They also can’t Photoshop several images together to produce a composite
without permission of the subject.

21. MODEL RELEASE
• If a photographer wants to use an image for promotion or
advertising, he or she needs written permission.
• This written permission usually is a standard form called a model
release.
• The more specifically a model release describes possible uses for an
image, the less it protects the photographer, but the better it protects
for that specific usage.
• Children (under 18) can’t legally sign a model release. It must be
signed by parent or guardian.

22. A TYPICAL MODEL RELEASE
• Here is a typical short model release (From New York Institute of Photography):
Model Release
In exchange for consideration received, I hereby give permission to ______ to use my
name and photographic likeness in all forms and media for advertising, trade, and any
other lawful purposes.
Print Name:
Signature:
Date:
If model is under 18:
I, _____, am the parent/legal guardian of the individual named above, I have read this
release and approve of its terms.
Print Name:
Signature:
Date:

23. PRIVACY AND INTRUSION
• Intrusion involves invasion of privacy when a person reasonably believed the
activity to be private.
• Obviously, if you are taking photos on private property, you are intruding on
privacy.
• Sometimes, however, it’s less clear cut. If, for instance, you are taking
photos of an accident from the sidewalk, you are legally protected.
• If, however, you climb into an ambulance to take more pictures, you may be
intruding on privacy—and may be trespassing.
http://www.npr.org/2012/12/06/166666261/documenting-tragedy-the-ethics-of-photojournalism
NPR on Documenting Tragedy

24. ZOOMING INTRUSIONS
• You may have a telephoto or zoom lens so long you can easily
take pictures of people in their dorm rooms.
• Doing so, however, is an invasion of privacy, even if you are
standing on the sidewalk.
• The principle is this: you probably can legally photograph
someone from a public place if their activities can easily be
observed by the average passer-by.
• If, however, you need a telephoto lens to observe that
activity, it’s intrusion.

25. PRIVATE CITIZENS AND PUBLIC OFFICIALS
• Public officials and public figures surrender quite a bit of their rights to
privacy.
• Generally it’s presumed that the person gave up his right to privacy on
deciding to become a public figure.
• This is true not only for elected officials, but for celebrities.
• Celebrities in America will seldom win a lawsuit involving right to privacy.

26. SNEAKING AROUND
• Photojournalists have on occasion done exposés of unethical or illegal
practices at workplaces by disguising themselves and surreptitiously taking
pictures.
• The shame of child labor in early factories was documented using this
technique.
• It may, however, subject the photographer to an intrusion lawsuit, even if the
activity photographed was unethical or illegal.

27. PRIVATE FACTS
• You may be open to a lawsuit if you disclose private facts that have nothing
to do with any news value, and may be highly offensive to the average
person.
• This is true even if in a public place.
• A photojournalist took a picture of a woman leaving a carnival funhouse.
• A hidden jet of compressed air fluffed her skirt up.
• The published photograph was entertaining to all—except the subject, who
successfully sued.
• Note that even if the photographer had gotten her name, implying permission
to publish, she still could later sue—because no written model release was
obtained.

28. FALSE LIGHT
• The job of photojournalists is non-fiction photography. That is to report the
truth.
• But some photojournalists are not ethical. If they choose to photograph
someone with “reckless disregard” to the truth, they may face a lawsuit.
• You may legally photograph an accident victim. If you later use that photo to
illustrate an article on the carelessness of pedestrians, however, you may be
held in “reckless disregard.”
• This was an actual court case.
http://www.sree.net/teaching/photoethics.html

29. http://www.photograph
yschoolsonline.net/blo
g/2010/10-
photoshopped-
photos-passed-off-as-
real/

30. LIBEL
For photojournalism, it’s usually a matter of falsely depicting
someone, such as
• Using the stacking ability of a telephoto to suggest false relationships.
• Capturing a moment out of context, without a cutline to explain. This is
a legal justification for always using cutlines.
• Obviously manipulating with Photoshop, say, by putting someone’s
head on someone else’s body.
• It is an interesting side note that film-based photography is often still
required for law enforcement investigation, as it is harder to falsify
truth.

31. GENERAL TIPS TO AVOID LEGAL TROUBLE
• Be nice and tactful.
• Taking pictures on public property is okay, but don’t use them for
advertising.
• Pointing your telephoto lens to activities on private property is
risky.
• Get IDs to help protect yourself, even if they may have no legal
value.
http://vimeo.com/43922883

32. MORE TIPS
• Taking people doing things in public places is usually okay, as long as they’re
doing something related to their public functions.
• If an audience can’t take pictures at a concert, you can’t either, without
express permission.
• Photographing military property without permission is illegal.
• Crossing police lines is illegal, even if you think they’re unfair.
• You must have a signed model release to use a photo for promotion, even if
it’s only a house ad, that is a promotion to increase readership.