Censoring accidents?
They used to do this in the old Soviet Union but I think the motivation is different here. There seems to be a common view nowadays that people need to be shielded from anything that might upset them. Story from an Australian rural publication:
"I just received an email from MLA (Meat & Livestock Australia) requesting that I remove an article from the site. What it demonstrates is how powerful forces dictate what ordinary Australians read and see in the media.
The email is polite and no doubt in the MLA's mind well meaning. However I won't be removing the pictures unless of course an overwhelming number of our readers ask me too. You see unlike the mainstream media, MLA does not pay us 100,000's of thousands of dollars for advertising each year.
As a result we are totally independent and publish what we think is appropriate. Yes the accident was terrible. Terrible for the driver, terrible for the Truck owner, terrible for the farmers who lost all of their cattle and terrible for the cattle. But thats life in the bush. No body in the bush feels anything but sympathy for all those involved including the cattle.
Source
One of the pictures concerned is reproduced above. The rest are here. The driver must have fallen asleep at the wheel. There is a big problem with truck drivers not taking enough rest breaks.
7 comments:
While I understand the need to disseminate items of interest (i.e. NEWS), think of the horrific pain that the family members of these cattle are going through. To see the bodies of their loved ones treated like...like...cattle just adds to their anguish!
Please, for the sake of bovinity, remove these pictures, please!
While there's certainly nothing wrong with displaying this kind of tragedy to raise the awareness of the problem, it should be presented tastefully. Why not just display a clickable "placeholder" image with an "Explicit Photo" warning. If the site visitor wants to see the image, he can click through to see it. Everyone else can read the story without being "forced" to see the tragic imagery. This provides freedom of speech with "insulation" for those who don't want the exposure.
Problem solved.
Welcome to the new touchy, feely" world where there is no such thing as reality.
BTW, looks like a great place for a BBQ!
So the cattle were (probably) being taken to the abattoir and, because of the accident, had to be put down. I am stricken with anguish. I need to flee from my pain - somebody pass the Heinz 57....
Can you imagine the huge sale on Porterhouse steaks in the local butcher shops?
I don't get it? Remove the pictures, why exactly? There were only three pictures that obliquely show an animal in distress - 2 with a leg hanging out (which is not much worse than I've seen on plenty of highways) and one that is kinda pushing the bounds of taste (the one with the cattle and the crane). I'd say the story is of limited interest but is certainly of interest to some - and the pictures are an important part of the story.
What should be of interest to all is the attempt at censorship. Remember when people were able to think for themselves?
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