Statement on Media Images of Sunningdale Fuel Tanker Accident

Tuesday, 14 June 2011.

The Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe (VMCZ) wishes to advise all of its members, media houses and media stakeholders of the sensitivity of particular stories or photographs  concerning the personal grief and shock of members of the public. This is particularly so in the wake of the tragic fuel tanker explosion in the residential surburb of Sunningdale, Harare on the night of Saturday 11 June 2011.

Some of the images that have appeared in the media have led to telephone calls to the VMCZ offices wherein members of the public have stated that some of the pictures are not sensitive to members of the public who may have lost their loved ones in the aforementioned tragic accident.

In terms of Section 14 of the VMCZ Media Code of Conduct (MCC), which states, ‘in cases involving personal grief or shock, enquiries should be carried out and approaches made with sympathy and tact’, it is of paramount importance that the media strikes a balance on the sensitivity of immediate news and the grief of affected relatives and friends.  It is also the VMCZ’s hope that due care and cognizance of Section 14 of the MCC  was taken by the various media houses that carried images of those that tragically perished in the horrendous accident.

Voluntary Media Council of Zimbabwe

“I know I didn’t get this job because I’m a woman; I got it because I’m the best qualified person,” she says. Nonetheless, what it means to me is that the executive editor of the New York Times is such an important position in our society, the Times itself is indispensable to society and a woman gets to run the newsroom — that’s meaningful.”

Jill Abramson is to become the first female editor of the New York Times in September. More

I’ve just read Michael Laban’s blog on bribery and corruption, both of which are fueled by the abuse of power. I’m reminded of an incident that I witnessed at the Harare International Airport on Saturday. While we were loading luggage into my car an airport employee was busy clamping the wheel of the vehicle next to mine. When I expressed surprise at a vehicle being clamped in the actual car park rather than in the designated clamping zones, he said he was doing so on account of the vehicle having parked badly (the misbehaved car straddled two parking bays). Whilst I’m totally for drivers behaving respectfully, like actually parking properly in the parking bays, no where on the airport premises are there any signs saying that vehicles will be clamped for parking badly. This is exactly what Michael Laban illustrates in his blog; the airport employee decided to abuse his position, whether for an appropriate reason or not.

The Sunday Mail advertises itself as Zimbabwe’s leading family newspaper. Their last edition featured an incredibly gruesome photograph of two burnt corpses. Fatalities from a vehicle accident that involved a fuel tanker on Boschoff Drive in Harare. Yes, one might think that the Sunday Mail photographer, Believe Nyakudjara, would have snapped the wreckage of the vehicles, but instead this is what gets dished up. The Sunday Mail’s appalling lack of professionalism and sensitivity must be roundly criticised.

Dogs have been fighting alongside U.S. soldiers for more than 100 years, seeing combat in the Civil War and World War I. But their service was informal; only in 1942 were canines officially inducted into the U.S. Army. Today, they’re a central part of U.S. efforts in Iraq and Afghanistan — as of early 2010 the U.S. Army had 2,800 active-duty dogs deployed (the largest canine contingent in the world). And these numbers will continue to grow as these dogs become an ever-more-vital military asset.

So it should come as no surprise that among the 79 commandos involved in Operation Neptune Spear that resulted in Osama bin Laden’s killing, there was one dog — the elite of the four-legged variety. And though the dog in question remains an enigma — another mysterious detail of the still-unfolding narrative of that historic mission — there should be little reason to speculate about why there was a dog involved: Man’s best friend is a pretty fearsome warrior.

Above, a U.S. soldier with the 10th Special Forces Group and his dog leap off the ramp of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter during water training over the Gulf of Mexico as part of exercise Emerald Warrior on March 1.

From Foreign Policy

Have a look at the full photo essay of dogs at work here