Wednesday, December 5, 2012

just take a taxi.

A man was pushed into the tracks while a train was passing by. There is a picture taken by a freelance photographer of the New York Post of the man standing in the tracks and watching the train come towards him. The New York Police have the suspect in custody, but have yet to charge him for anything. 


I thought that since it wasn't politics, the articles from the Washington Post and the Wall Street Journal would be relatively similar, there doesn't seem to be a side to take, just information.
WP's headline reads "Controversy grows over published photo of fatal NY subway push as NYC police question suspect" while the WSJ's is simply, "Subway push subject is questioned." The WP led me to believe that the photo taken would be the center of the article while the WSJ would stay short and to the point, much like the rest of their stories. 

Well, the photo was mentioned in both articles, asking the question of if the photographer had time to take photos, he had time to help the guy get out of the tracks. I guess it's all relative, it depends on where he was and where the train was, if he put his camera together as he was running to the scene, if he was strong enough to lift the man out in time to get himself to safety as well. That being said, there was surveillance video taken at the scene and no one on the subway platform tries to help. Maybe they didn't see him? Maybe they too were stunned just as much as the man who was pushed was?

In this case, the Wall Street Journal offered more information of what happened that day. I also thought it was interesting that the WSJ named the suspect and talked to people who worked with him (he was a street vendor at the subway) and suggested that the charges would not come until there was a line up for witnesses. They also gave a background of the man, Han, who was going into the city to have his Korean visa renewed. Police are also having a toxicology test done since an empty pint of vodka was found with Han's things on the platform. Could he have been intoxicated and started a fight with the man who pushed him?

The Washington Post did what they said they would do, focused on the moral dilemma of the photo and nothing else. It's proof once again that a reader should never just have one newspaper, for there can be alot they are missing out on. 


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