h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

A Welsh police chief used photographs of road accident victims to hammer home a "speed kills" message. Apart from the crucial part that he did not ask the relative's permission, are such shock tactics justifiable?

What about images of terrorism and war? Should the full horror of war be shown in the media?

<>

In my opinion, yes, if that's the motive, shock tactics to reduce support... and with the proviso of asking relatives' permission... That's why Phil Donahue wanted to televise an execution in the 1990s, and it's why the authorities refused him permission. (He had the full consent of the about-to-be-killed man and his family, but the prison authorities said they didn't want the public put off the death penalty by seeing the horror of it. It is significant to me how many people involved in the technicalities of execution later come out strongly against it... )

Vicky

In principle, yes, I agree too. It does depend somewhat on the motive.

Our local emergency services have had mock-ups of car crashes with realistically injured dummies for this purpose. Unfortunately, I don't think such images (either car crashes nor war casualties) have much significance in terms of changing opinion or behaviour.

If the images are too horrific, people may feel they are being maipulated, that those are rare excesses. If only the milder ones, then insufficient impact.

I'm thinking of the impact of the early news reports of starvation in the third world and the response engendered compared with later ones. Familiarity breeds contempt?

Also, the pictures sometimes used by protestors eg animal rights. Do they really sway anyone? Do people either dismiss them as extremists giving a biased view or are already convinced & need no extra incentive.

I agree with Vicky, to a limit. Also, it goes both ways. If one faction is showing the full horror of war as a deterrant, surely the opposite faction will show the full horror of violence against citizens to stir up support. It's impossible to allow one without the other. So how would it actually help?

Look around on the web and you can see all the horror pictures you want - people collect them rather than be repulsed by them.

Go to the cinema - gore is gloryfied.

Buy console games violence and killing happen before your eyes in every graphic detail.

The people who this type of thing is aimed at are already numb to its horror - the rest of don't have to have a face full of glass splinters to work out that crashing cars hurts.

I agree. I doubt the effectiveness of such shock tactics.

From a CBC article a couple of weeks ago: http://www.cbc.ca/arts/film/torture.html

"Torture has become a recurring motif in our media landscape. From the graphic accounts of the Rwandan genocide to the beheading of American reporter Daniel Pearl to the scandalous photos from Abu Ghraib, real-world violence has become, if not more widespread, then certainly more vivid. (The internet, where many of these images are found, has had a big hand in this.) With little fanfare and even less shame, torture has crept into pop culture. Acts of sadism dominate not only Hostel and Saw, but films like Turistas, The Devil’s Rejects and Wolf Creek. It’s also a key element in prime-time television series like 24, Lost, Law & Order and The Shield (as well as the late Alias)."