Letter to the Editor

Please be considerate when picking photos

To the Editor:

On Aug 25, 2009 my husband was killed in a light plane accident at Shawnee Field, around 6:15 p.m.. Shortly thereafter, the police knocked on my door with this tragic news. I was also told that the airport and the road around the accident had been secured (closed) by investigators, I could not get to the scene, and there would be no details until the investigators were finished.

On Aug. 26, 2009, around 6 a.m. after an understandably anguishing night, the first thing that greeted my eyes was the crash picture on the front of the paper(s). Since I had been unable to get any details surrounding the evening crash, the visual made matters worse. From this grisly photograph, one would assume the bodies of the men flying had been scattered in a million pieces. The photographs literally made me ill and I had to hide the papers from my children.

It was much later the second day, only after the investigation was complete, that I was able to talk to witnesses and learn the truth. First responders were there within 20 seconds. The airplane was in the photographed position because rescuers had lifted the airframe off the men to enable first aid and remove them from any danger of fire. The men's bodies were "whole;" they looked like they were sleeping. This is a far cry from what the various photographs depicted.

Please be more considerate and discerning when you print things of a sensational nature. The emotional damage you caused me, my family, and others close to the pilots was immeasurable. Printing the photos without adequate knowledge of what you are photographing is a great disservice. It is hard enough to recover from the shock of unexpected death of dads, husbands, and friends without this type of visual trauma being added to the story. Please do not add to the misery by printing "half truths" in words or photographs, no matter how enticing for grabbing the attention of your readers.

Dianne Johnson

Linton