Have you ever looked at a photograph of a dying child or a wounded animal and wondered – how did that even get taken? How is it possible for a journalist or a photographer to stand by and take notes– or photographs – of a tragedy and not step in to help?
And now that every person, every where is a potential journalist – carrying a still and video camera around in their pocket in the form of a mobile phone – the line between when you should be allowed to record an event and when you should go to someone’s aid becomes even murkier.
Amateur video footage that has been posted on YouTube (you can view the video here but please be warned it is quite distressing), which shows Melbourne commuters racially abusing a French woman on a bus – is going viral fast.
Three passengers begin yelling at the young woman who is quietly singing in her native tongue. One calls the French woman a bitch, then chants ‘Aussie Aussie Aussie’ and another yells at her to ‘speak English mother f*cker’. Slowly the abuse gets louder and fouler and increasingly out of control.
The video is not just making news here in Australia. It is being watched by horrified viewers all around the world.
The actions of those who were being abusive is unquestionably wrong but talk back radio across the country is buzzing this morning with a different question: What about the guy who filmed the whole incident and then made a YouTube movie out of it? What about the other commuters? What about the bystanders?
Did they have a duty to step in and help? Should they have gone to the woman’s aid? How is it possible that nobody stepped in
to try and stop the abuse occurring?
Mamamia writer, Lucy Ormonde wrote about the duty of journalists and non-journalists to go to the aid of someone in trouble earlier this year. Here is what she had to say:
The responsibility of the bystander and the ethics of the amateur journalist: It’s a question that’s front of mind in India at the moment, after two journalists filmed a teenage girl being sexually assaulted by a group of up to 12 men on a busy street outside a bar.
The girl was assaulted for a period of about 45 minutes during which time the journalists (at least one of whom was off duty) continued filming – and did not step in to intervene.
The footage shot by the journalist and the cameraman was aired on news channels and according to The Guardian and it’s prompted a debate over the intended subject of women’s safety in India, but also the subject of whether journalists have an obligation to help.
This from the UK press:
In an interview with Indian media, the victim asked why the journalists did not intervene: “They were only taking pictures. Why could they not help me?”
Police have been criticised over their initial indifference towards the attack, which took place last Monday just minutes from the nearest police station in Guwahati, Assam.
Frustrated at police inaction in the days following the assault, residents put up “wanted” posters of the men caught on camera and circulated the images on social networking sites.
It’s a tough one. It really is. It’s a journalist’s job to report the story, not be the story. And if no one reports sexual assaults, the rest of the population is unaware and unable to act to eradicate. But what about journalistic ethics? But what about compassion? Especially when it comes to ordinary people – who aren’t journalists – with a camera phone? What about the victim of the attack? And what of a basic human instinct to want to help?
These pictures come via The Guardian. They’re from a gallery called ‘The Bystanders’ and they’re the kind of images we’re talking about. They’re from a series of stills taken by photographers who witnessed acts of war, the devastation of famine and acts of domestic violence – and didn’t step in to help.
You can find that full gallery – and it really is worth a look because it challenges our notions about journalistic ethics – at The Guardian.
If you had been on the bus in Melbourne, what would you have done? Would you have gone to the French woman’s aid? Would you have called the police? Would you have just minded your own business?
Top Comments
This is going to sound ridiculous, but I if I been on that bus, I would have liked to give them a history lesson. This country does not 'belong' to anyone, so no one has the right to hurl the sort of abuse like these men did. The sad thing is, on other sites where you can see the video, this has fueled Anti-Australians, who say thing like "That's because all Australians are always drunk", "White Australians being racist to a White French woman, wow being black in that country must be a nightmare.", "Now there is one thing you could be sure ...here in France we never talk like that to an australian ...man or woman ...even she sing god save the queen in public", "I have heard so many stories about Australians being racist through my friends. This video reminded me of all those and made me sick. Though I did not understand what the foreign (French) woman did, but I clearly see a whole bus load of racist retards going against her. Shame on you Australians! for being racist and for not doing anything about it. I know for the fact this is not a single isolated incident." or "Its not Just aussie who are dumb f**kers, The New- Zealanders are too!" it's not just the people who start things like this that give Australian a false reputation, its those who add fuel to the fire
I don't know. It's all about risk assessment, isn't it?
On a bus filled with people, I would like to think that I could offer a gentle, "come on, guys, it's Sunday night and we all just want to get home in peace. Let's give it arest." But when the guy filming told them to calm down, they turned briefly on him.
But I would also like to think that if I said something, others would join. It's a safety in numbers thing. You are too scared to say something yourself, but when you realize you have an ally you get the guts to join in.
I remember seeing a guy chasing a girl down the street yelling at her, and while other people sat in stunned silence I just got up and raced after them. People who had been walking the other way trying to ignore it then decided to join me. We got the guy to back off and made sure she was safe. Sometimes people need to feel part of a group to feel like they have the power to intervene.