The Photograph of Aylan Kurdi and the Reality of Journalism

Every country in our world has different issues that are experienced. There are differences in living conditions, governments, politics, and rules. Some people are fortunate to live in homes that are safe and in good condition and others are not. The ability to feel safe walking to the mall or to the home of a friend is easier for some than others. In some countries, the conditions are extreme, leading to the inhabitants of those countries to struggle over whether or not to leave.

The photograph of deceased three-year-old Aylan Kurdi’s body published by journalist Nilüfer Demir is heart-wrenching. The pain and trauma his father Abdullah Kurdi must have felt losing his family and witnessing his child on that shore in Turkey is unimaginable. It has opened my eyes to the conditions that refugee families face. It has opened my eyes to the panic and desperation they experience to leave their homes behind caused by the fear they have if they stay. I feel grateful to live in a country where I do not have to worry and be afraid to the point of needing to flee.

Aylan Kurdi’s father Abdullah Kurdi lost complete privacy to grieve when the photograph was published. The image of his deceased child was made viral and plastered on various news articles. The image of his child on the shore, lying still and giving off the appearance of being asleep (Durham, p. 249, 2018). The photograph will be engraved in his mind. With the ethics of care, the father is being cared about less than the public. However, if I had been in the position that Nilüfer Demir was in, I would have published the photograph.

Journalists have a responsibility to care about the world. They are to report stories, informing citizens about current issues, and “for advocates of this ethical approach, care is both a value and a practice: caring labor involves material and concrete real-world commitments,” (Durham, p.244, 2018). The stories they report on offer insight and offer teachable moments. First, the photograph provides the message to treasure family because situations change at any moment and we do not always have the opportunity to take back mistakes, or to always have those we love around us for the rest of our lives. Second, the attention of parents will be captured because “Demir’s photograph of Alan Kurdi projects the immediate and agonizing subjunctive recognition that could have been my child, which in turn generates a caring impulse, the imperative to care for other children in the same circumstances and protect them from similar harm,” (Durham, p. 247, 2018). Parents will see a child and the outcome of the situation and think of their own children. It will allow them to place themselves in the father’s shoes and cause them to hold their children and loved ones a bit closer than they may have been prior to the publishing of the photograph. Third, it creates conversation amongst audiences. It allows individuals to gain understanding and perspective on the way of life for Syrian refugees and the lengths they will go to in order to get a better life. If Nilüfer Demir had not published the photograph then I do not think the severity of the situation would reach each individual paying attention. By publishing the photograph, the audiences around the world viewing it are being cared about. The public is becoming aware of a situation and learning.

The photograph became a symbol of change. It came as a sign that change needs to happen. Innocent people lost their lives trying to escape their own homes. They should not have had to feel afraid. They should not have to go to great and unsafe measures to get to a place of security. They should get to experience the security that we as Canadians feel in our country.

Reference:

Durham, M. G. (2018). Resignifying Alan Kurdi: News photographs, memes, and the ethics of embodied vulnerability, Critical Studies in Media Communication, 35(3), 240–258, DOI: 10.1080/15295036.2017.1408958