Media_what reporters should be responsible for?

fell down in the rain
Originally uploaded by bigkoala.

This photo, shooting when people are falling down to a big water buddle in the rain, has ignited hot discussions on the Internet in China. The core is if the photographing reporter should shoot the photo, instead of warning people to avoid the buddle.

Taken by a newspaper in Fujian Province, the photo was forwarded by the official Xinhua news agency and big online media such as Sina.com. Sina specially made a column today on whether that photographer should take that photo, based on the point that reporters should put job requirement or social responsibility at the first place.

It is a debate not only on the reporter's role, but also on the journalism's role in China. With the economic reform, people pay more and more attention to each individual in the society. They consider everyone's safety should be cared in the media, the reason why people pitied the guy who fell down in the picture.

From the theory of western journalism, it is right for reporters to take the photo to fulfill their responsibilities to tell the world what happened. They should be the audience who honestly record everything. But in China, I would like to say, reporters are also the group to speak for the people who couldn't speak and to help them. So the question here is: should the reporter try to help one people or many people? Unfortunately, that one people will have to suffer first if reporters want to help more people by telling the story to the public.

There is no right or wrong, just a conflict of different opinion towards the development of journalism in China.