ABSTRACT

This media ethics case study will look into the ethics of showing someone pronounced dead in media. On August 9, 2014, a shooting in Ferguson, Missouri took place where an officer shot and killed an unarmed 18-year-old boy named Michael Brown. After the shooting, Ferguson police left the body in the street for four hours; then, the police gave the go-ahead for the medical examiner to take Brown’s body to the morgue. If the body had been moved before being processed, it could have led to valid grounds for police misconduct claims. Is it ethical to take a picture and also post it of someone dead? The TARES test, a 5-step method for analyzing a visual image’s ethics, will be used to determine whether something is ethical: truthfulness, authenticity, respect, equity, and social responsibility. John Stuart Mill’s utilitarianism principle will also be used to reinforce the TARES Test. Lastly, this case study will answer these three questions:

1. Is it ethical to take a picture of someone dead?

2. Does the shock of a photo like this justify publishing such an image?

3. What guidance does the SPJ (Society of Professional Journalists) Code of Ethics provide when deciding whether or not to publish such a photo?