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I think this is a great opportunity to talk about media literacy, trauma, & what happens when there is a general vacuum of graphic COVID visuals. 1/... https://twitter.com/Bob_Wachter/status/1341772822297804800
First of all, I would like to recognize Dr. Wachter and many, many healthcare workers are closing out most likely one of the worst years of their lives. The amount of suffering, death and pain they have surely witnessed and been victim to themselves is unimaginable.
There is, then, understandably a palpable fear right now about whether enough people will be willing to take the vaccine so that we can finally start to emerge from this nightmare.
Journalist perspective: we have agonized over the inability to show this horrible disease. Our job is to show the public the truth. We believe that ppl should see the human toll behind the numbers. Some of our colleagues were allowed access, most of us were not.
What's left then is a visual vacuum. We (journos & healthcare workers) both have the same goal: to educate the public and to help our communities make the right choices so that we can fight this pandemic.
Imagine if every photographer who was allowed to photograph vaccinations had also been allowed to photograph the reality of the disease all year? The public would have that visual memory. Instead we have a smattering of photos of COVID & we will have a ton of vaccination images.
Media criticism is incredibly important. We are and will always be an imperfect industry. However, it's important to consider the broader context of this screenshot. This is the first photo I've seen of a person grimacing from a COVID shot & it's in a slideshow.
Indeed, this is the front page the day after the first vaccination in the US:
I don't see a pattern of the Times showing multiple photos of people grimacing from the COVID vax. I would agree that would be misleading. It's important for large news orgs who have big audiences to be careful and thoughtful about what information we present to the public.
Likewise, I would hope that someone with a medical title & a large social media following would be careful w/ presenting info. If you're going to make a correlation between one photo as the cause of potential deaths & illnesses of thousands of people, it's important to show data.
That's a pretty intense allegation to make. During a time in which anti-media sentiment is at an all-time high, I implore people to consider the power of your words. They have consequences, just like our editorial choices have consequences.
I would really like to know if there is a study that shows that correlation. That would be something our industry should know about. We do know that assaults on journalists are increasing. https://cpj.org/reports/2020/12/murders-journalists-more-than-doubled-killed/
There have been conflicting studies about how to convince anti-vaxxers the positive effects of vaccinations. One thing is for sure: the prevalence of accurate, truthful and transparent information is better than leaving a vacuum. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/08/03/want-to-change-an-anti-vaxxers-fear-scare-them/
As journos, overall we have tried to present the best, most accurate info we have found & been allowed access to. You'll prob find that the vast majority of COVID vax photos don't have a grimace. But humans are not all the same, so sometimes you'll get something different.
Here is one thread that features photographs that have been made. We need more of these. We need access. https://twitter.com/corinne_perkins/status/1341481314168557569
People please feel free to reply here with other COVID work. This in no way is meant to diminish the work that has been done. My point is that we need more of it.
