Robert Alai: Fulfilling the public’s ‘Right to know’ through photojournalism

Kenyan blogger Robert Alai has been arrested over publishing ‘sensitive story’ and detained at Kamkunji police station on Friday.

Alai, has earned notoriety for his relentless stream of social media opinions that inform, entertain and, not unusually, ‘embarrassing’ public officials in Nairobi.

He has been sued and briefly incarcerated for his highly opinionated political and sometimes personal attacks on politicians, government officials and business leaders.

According to Alai, armed officers from the Special Crimes Prevention Unit ordered him out his vehicle at gunpoint.

“They blocked the road and ordered me out at gun point. I was then bundled to another car and driven to Kamkunji police station where I am since 10 am on Friday,” Alai stated.

It is alleged that he had written on his blog -Kahawatungu – ‘a sensitive story’ touching on who is who in the society.

If at all it is true, this “The Family of President Uhuru Kenyatta is Mourning, Muhoho’s Wife Died (Photos)” might be the story that ruffled the Kenyatta family.

However, this begs the question. What is the role of pictures?

A good news picture is worth a column of words.  Therefore, any news item could be less informative, less complete and less attractive without pictures. Pictures not only supplement the text; they enhance and extend it by highlighting and pressing upon the reader important parts of it; they make it easier for the reader to build up a picture of what is being read.

Can photojournalism observe a code of ethics while:

Fulfilling the public’s “Right to know” what is in the public interest? Respecting the private lives of the individuals?

Invasion of privacy have developed along false light, private facts and misappropriates. The People need to understand that the public’s right to know often to be weighed against the privacy rights of people in the news. Inquiries into an individual’s private life without the person’s consent are not generally acceptable unless public interest is involved. Public interest must itself be legitimate and not merely prurient or morbid curiosity.

There are four types of violation of someone’s privacy:

Unreasonable Intrusion: Consent is the most important factor when dealing with unreasonable intrusion or public disclosure of private facts. Generally, anything that can be seen in plain, public view can be photographed. Pictures in private places require permission. A photographer must be sure that the person who gives permission has the authority to grant the request.

Disclosure of Private Facts: Trespass laws require that photojournalists have the permission of an owner of a property before access can be gained.

Misappropriation: The fourth area of trouble for a photojournalist in a privacy case is using a person’s image for monetary gain without that person’s permissions, a photographer may have the right to photograph anyone in public, but problems will occur when that image is published and is used to represent a class of individuals without that person’s consent (Coleman, 1988).

The National Press Photographers Association sets forth the following Code of Ethics which is subscribed to by all of its members:

“It is the individual responsibility of every photojournalist at all times to strive for pictures that report truthfully, honestly and objectively.”

Read:

• Photographers are now free to document Nairobi City – Gov. Sonko
• Win for Kenyan Media, Court Rules Criminal Defamation Laws Unjustified

Publishing false or inaccurate information directly is the biggest and most devastating thing a journalist or media can do. That is the underlining factor of the two. Publishing private and true embarrassing facts may hurt someone severely, but journalists feel that it is a right for a person in the audience to know the truth. Ethically, the journalist must give the facts. Journalistic ethics understands that the worst possible thing is to give false information. Not only is it ethically wrong, but also, through the law, libel is a bigger problem. In actuality most initial invasion of privacy suits, especially in false light are changed to libel suits because they are more damaging.

Moreover, many readers react strongly to pictures that seem to violate the privacy of others, it is important to be clear on the legal and ethical issues surrounding the right to privacy.

A guiding principle for journalists in deciding to cover a story is whether the event is newsworthy. Newsworthiness is not determined by the number of cameras pointed through, but a concept with roots to unemotional, objective and reasoned journalism principles.