• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, October 29, 2024

Editors and publishers both wonder whether readers want — or can handle — grisly photos from the Ukraine war. 

The answer is they can if the images are not exploitive, judging by a study from a team at the Missouri School of Journalism. In fact, the readers may be less squeamish than editors, so newsrooms should step up to this public responsibility. 

The participants in this study were shown a series of images from the Ukraine war and asked to sort them based on whether they would want to see them in the news. Showing the photos were Lee Greenwood, associate dean of the Missouri School of Journalism; Lisa Krantz, a photographer who has won the Pulitzer Prize; and Cory MacNeil, a McIntyre Fellowship winner.

“The thing that was pretty consistent among all the participants was, while they might be willing to accept graphic pictures, they weren’t accepting of something that was graphic just for the sake of shock,” says team leader Keith Greenwood, dean of the Missouri School of Journalism. “Something that was just put out there with no purpose — that’s where they drew the line. But if there was a message there, they could understand.”

In addition, some people preferred to see the impact of the war on non-combatants — “the people stuck in the middle,” Greenwood says. 

One surprising finding is that newsrooms “have maybe been a little more conservative than what most of their audience would accept, and they could probably push the envelope a little more,” Greenwood points out. “But that doesn’t mean they have to.”

Half of the participants had the same preferences or sensibilities as editors. "But 25% wanted to see more graphic photographs showing bodies and severe injury,” according to a synopsis in Digital Journalism.

Another 25% would accept more graphic photos if they show respect for the people depicted. 

“There were a couple of portraits we included in the final edit where people had shrapnel in their faces,” Krantz reports. “They were looking directly at the camera, and the people we interviewed said that what drew them to those photographs was resilience. They were being really thoughtful about who was in the photographs and how their story was told.”

The conclusion? “Everyone was pretty willing to see some degree of graphic content,” Greenwood says. “Overall, they had a sense that journalism’s responsibility is to show people what is going on in the world.”