Thread by @ClaraJeffery

1/ Re photo of drowned father and daughter. Some of the greatest, most socially important photos ever did not come with/allow for permission from the families. The drowned Syrian boy. The girl running from Napalm. The kids jumping from Philly burning building. Falling man.

2/ The terrified blood covered child at Iraq checkpoint. And re video: Rodney King. Tamir Rice. All the police shootings.

I get why people are concerned about victims/families. But there's at least as good a case to be made for why we should see more of such horrors than less.

3/ Kent state. Dogs and high powered hoses being turned on civil rights marchers. The list goes on and on. Indeed one could argue that some of the worst things—forever wars, mass shootings—continue because media don't show those images.

4/ There are photos/videos that change the course of history. They are important. Photographers and photo editors must weigh the news and social value with decency and privacy. But consider that you see less of the horrors at the border than you should be made to see.

5/ All of these things (except Philly burning building shot, which almost nobody remembers) were actions taken by some arm of the state, in your name. That too is a factor in the decisions of which photos to run.

6/ ^ many of these things. But the adage is right. A picture does paint a thousand words. Or 100,000. It crystalizes, it mobilizes. You can't look away. You can't forget. That is the work of great photojournalism.