News Channels Should Continue Broadcasting Violent Images And Videos

One thing that irks me considerably is self-censorship by media organizations. At the best of times, I find this practice -- usually motivated by a desire to not offend, respect some sensibilities, or not broom up trouble -- silly and counterproductive. But it is in the case of gruesome violence where it assumes actual socio-political importance.

Consider this blog post on Dawn, which argues for not showing the images of people who've died, and other gory scenes of violence:

The common practice of providing live coverage of funerals and showing the face of the dead person on air, broadcasting bullet-riddled and blood-stained bodies of suspected terrorists, zooming in on the identifiable faces of rape victims, and incessantly screening the scattering of body parts after suicide blasts needs to stop. Every independent media outlet now has a website on which to post the images/videos that might require viewer discretion. More innovative ways of offering viewers the choice of how much blood and gore they consume can also be devised.

My argument would be: self-censorship can be incredibly damaging, and, theoretically anyway, can lead to more conflict and violence. Consider:

In almost every culture, violence for a worthy cause is respected and lionized. Whether its because of religion or country or whatever, it's always considered desirable to fight and die if the end or goal is just. The point is, violence is glorified and idealized to the point where it is thought of only in abstract terms; as a concept more than anything else.

But what uncensored images and videos of violence on television do is show you that concept in action. It demonstrates very vividly and powerfully that there is a real cost to living up to these ideals. Suicide bombing may sound cool in theory to a Baitullah Mehsud disciple, but might he think differently once he is shown a picture of someone who actually blew himself up? Maybe, maybe not, but there's definitely a chance, isn't there? Or what about the mob? Mafia movies (and The Sopranos series, no doubt) almost always depict gangs in a favorable or sympathetic light, and make the mob seem almost heroic. But if you actually see, unadulterated and unfiltered, what they do, you are less likely to be sympathetic.

News organizations have a responsibility to show the world as it is. If you are offended -- as I was by the Taliban beating the girl video, or the Pakistani army soldiers kicking and beating civilians video -- then you can simply turn away (as I did in both those instances). But to deprive the world of seeing what violence actually looks like simply because some are more queasy than others is deeply damaging, and risks the "coolization" of violence and murder.