Help Wanted: New York Subway Horror
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| (Photo via: Gawker) |
He now has all of New York in an uproar and countless others describing they won't be picking up a New York Post in the future. And who's fault really is it? That's shameless Journalism at its finest.
On Monday December 3rd, 58-year-old Ki Suk Han, a husband and father to a college daughter found himself in the bitter end of a scuffle in downtown New York. As sources indicate, there was a minor confrontation between the attacker and Han, and Han was just there to "calm him down". The attacker retaliated and shoved him onto the tracks into an oncoming train, leaving him fighting for his life.
A flash of light lit the station up, but saving him was just too late.
If you've seen the photograph,or just happened to pick up a copy of the New York Post Tuesday, you would have seen the published photograph of a innocent man trapped in the barricade of an oncoming train, hanging on to the edge of the platform, as a train hurls towards him. What could Han have done all by himself? Why wasn't anyone making an attempt to save someone who just suffered a fall to the tracks? And the busy New York platform was crowded, don't get me wrong. It happened at 12:30 in the afternoon.
But when it comes to throwing yourself into action and with the intention of being a hero, why did this freelance photographer with the Post decide to document it, instead of offering a hand? Or anybody else on the platform for that matter? And I wasn't there myself in person, so I don't have all the details of the story, but in a Journalist's mind, you shouldn't hesitate over deciding "what would look better for myself?" That kind of attitude shows you the door and kicks you on the way out.
To be honest, I don't know what was going through Abbasi's mind, nor do I not know what the Post was trying to prove after publishing the photo. But they definitely received a lot of criticism from other media outlets.
You see, we journalists are observers. But there are certain times when we have to give way to help out the community. Thankfully, to this day, I've never been in a position where my getting the story required me to stand by in the middle of someone else's terrible end. Abbasi told the paper that he repeatedly set off his camera flash to "warn the conductor of the oncoming train." But that wasn’t nearly enough. Getting a conductor's attention with a flash – and maybe even blinding him with it – doesn't seem like the way you'd necessarily help someone that's clinging to the subway platform.
It doesn't take much to help lift a man to safety and Abbasi should have forgot about the photo and lent a hand. It would have been the least he could do. Him and the other 10+ who were running to Han's aid.
There is not much from being a Journalist than being an average person. We are all humans in one way or another and with readers relating to everything we write, read, share, post or broadcast, they really influence us and communicate with us in this typical cycle. Without the readers/viewers, us Journalists would be without a job, and when the majority gets on your back about publishing a bad photo, then you make yourself look like a bad company. And that's something I hope I never to be apart of.
One thing is for sure; there are a lot of sick people out there, and if we don't do something about it, society will continue to decline.
I insist on reading a bit more into the details on Forbes.
Further readings:
Gothamist
Washington Post
Huffington Post
Until next time,
-Drew
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