Yesterday, I wrote about the predictable pattern of images we can expect to see during the early, middle and later stages of modern conflict. As I surveyed the front pages of more than 500 newspapers on the Today's Front Page Website I was struck by the conformity of the image selection and display.
I am bringing this up again because I was stunned by how only two newspapers chose to empathize with the victims by showing tight detailed pictures of a grieving woman and an injured child.
It should be noted that a majority of U.S. newspapers selected not to use any images from the crisis in the Middle East on the front page. Those that did run chose to focus on wider angle images that serve to provide a context for understanding the destruction.
This brings us to challenging and confounding claim that the media in this country is ultra liberal. Contrary to popular belief, most of the treatment of front page image selection is pretty conservative.
It takes courage for newspapers to select images that put a human face on the front page. Most of us don't want to be reminded of the true cost of war -- civilian deaths.
What is really interesting about how the use of violent imagery plays out incrementally as the war progress is that just as predicted today's coverage is saturated with images of refugees fleeing the conflict.
