So is posting a photo of a dead person laying on the street on the MacResource forum is ok now?

[testcase]

"Americans are amongst the most squeamish people in the world"

:agree:

This forum is just a sampling of many American people (yes, I know there are other nationalities here but, I expect the majority of forum members are Americans).

Americans, more than most any other people, have been "sanitized" in much (most?) of their lives. Far too many Americans think food just comes on styrofoam trays found in every supermarket and, they wouldn't know what to do with real food as it's found in its' natural form. Expecting them to give rational thought to the dead / dying, especially in a remote corner of the world, is WAY beyond their capabilities.

As for posting pictures of the dead / dying on this forum; perhaps there could be a setting / check box members could check to "Opt In" to reality or, "Opt Out" and request they NOT be subjected to reality. To encourage such "Opt Outs", perhaps the could be offered a free unicorn or, their own personal rainbow.

[NewtonMP2100]

....more than that.....Squeam 2.......Squeam 3.....etc......very Squeamish......

[Acer]

I think a warning in the subject line about sensitive material would be courteous and sufficient.

[NewtonMP2100]

.......so pics of dead roaches are forbidden......?

[graylocks]

Lew Zealand wrote:
Thanks for that insight Ombligo, I found it valuable.

yes, thank you. definitely informative. in the past few days i listened to an episode of The Daily where a news editor revisited the NYT coverage of the 2016 election coverage. it was really enlightening to hear the amount of care that was behind editing decisions. i hadn't appreciated how thoughtful the process was.

[RAMd®d]

"Americans are amongst the most squeamish people in the world"


Got to love dumbass proclamations offered without a fsckin' bit of substantiation.

As represented by forum members, squeamishness is not the issue with most who questioned the posting of the pic.

It doesn't bother me that somebody might be unsettled by it.

The bigger about the people who're blasé about something like this.

[Ombligo]

RAMd®d wrote:
"Americans are amongst the most squeamish people in the world"


Got to love dumbass proclamations offered without a fsckin' bit of substantiation.

cripes - I'm writing for an internet forum, not a scholarly publication. I'm not going to start citing sources for something that is pretty well established through experience. Are there exceptions - of course, there are, it was a generalization. When you are putting out a program or publication for widespread distribution, you have to generalize in your decision. If you tried to make everyone happy, you would put out nothing (and then people would still complain).

Still, after thirty years in the business of selecting material for publication, I think I am qualified to speak to the subject as an expert witness. Images we had long discussions about publishing would have been used without hesitation in many parts of the world (as close as Mexico, where images of the dead are used every day). Nudity is a huge issue here, not so in many parts of Europe. The list goes on. We guard against our children being exposed to anything and then wonder why they are not worldly.

Do I think this is a stupid way to live? Frankly yes, but it is the American way. Further, I like that we have some of those discussions as it means that when a controversial image is used it has added impact.