THERE is no escaping the war in Ukraine. It is on our TV screens day and night, on every radio news bulletin, and in all our newspapers, including this one – very much so.
That’s how it should be. No one should be turning a blind eye to this horror, no matter how much we may sometimes want to switch off. It matters very much to all our futures.
At The Herald, we have a duty to report all that is going on. However, should we allow all these horrors to spill on to our pages unfiltered? How far should we take into account the sensitivities of our readership?
In some ways, the TV companies have it easier than we do. They can, and do, issue warnings. You will often hear them intone: “The following report contains distressing images.” Newspapers can’t do that. When we take a decision to put a picture on Page 1 (or anywhere else for that matter) it’s done. We can’t tell you not to look.
That is why we must be mindful of what we are printing. The issue was raised the other day by a reader, who complained: “In the article ‘Russian troops fleeing Chernobyl plant after exposure to radiation’, there is a photo of bodies on the ground. I am concerned as to why the photo was published? Was it to sensationalise the horrors of the war, and tragedy unfolding in that brave country, or perhaps to illustrate the death toll and suffering of the people of Ukraine? ... How do I explain the photo to my young grandchildren?”
The first point to be made, emphatically, is that we are not in the business of sensationalising anything. Secondly, yes, we must illustrate the suffering, but we must always do so in a responsible manner.
Picture Editor Craig Alexander says: “As a newspaper it is important to report an accurate account of what is happing in a conflict such as the one in Ukraine. However, we also try to strike a balance with what we think is acceptable without offending our readers. We try not to show faces in such images in an attempt to protect the dead people’s families and their dignity.”
Some will argue that we should not pull our punches. After all, there all sorts of horrors freely available to view on social media. People are much more desensitised than they used to be – as is evidenced by some of the content on our Letters Pages.
There are undoubtedly war crimes being committed in Ukraine. We must play our part in exposing them. But we need also to be aware that we don’t have an off switch – as, indeed, should our readers.
Please let us know if you feel we have got the balance wrong.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel