At work

 

The photo seen here was taken at the scene of a fatal industrial accident that I went to with a reporter and a photographer at highway 118. The highway is being expanded and the man who was killed was a 31-year-old construction worker who somehow slipped and fell onto a spinning auger and was flung off hitting his head. He died on the spot. The scene was tragic, but I was able to observe how the Star staff handle such situations. They were respectful and empathetic and people were willing to talk to them because of that approach, though the police were a little hostile at first.

Comments

[Luis Botello]

Glad to know you are having such as in depth experience with the reporters. I wonder if you noticed any think different on the way tragic stories are handled by the reportes. What kind of pictures would the photograph got? In many countries the use of sensational images are used by the media.
Best,
Luis

[guyanagirl]

The photographer did not take any pictures of the man's body because she knew The Star would not use them. She took pictures of the machinery, of the road work being done, of the police carrying out their investigations (and of me, ha ha). But in the end, the editor just used a head shot of the victim, which the reporter got from the family. Similarly, at the Stabroek News we would never use photos of dead bodies, although I have seen them in other newspapers.