Marissa Burian

COMM 319

Schanilec- Gowan

10/2/23

9/11 Ethics Summary

This article focuses on the controversy of the image “Falling Man.” The picture shows

one of the many jumpers that jumped to their deaths after the twin towers had been hit on 9/11.

This image sparked quite the controversy as many believe it is an invasion of privacy and takes

away the dignity of those who made the difficult decision of jumping. While others believe

images like the “falling man” are crucial for people to remember how tragic that day really was

and have a more real understanding of it. This picture was shown on news stations across the

country on 9/11, but was not shown again after many wrote letters and notes expressing their

anger and beliefs that it invaded the privacy of the jumpers. The article focused on two main

questions. One question was, “is it ethical to print images of people falling to their deaths since

doing so is an invasion of privacy?” The second question was, “is it ethical to withhold such

images from the public since doing so eliminates a grim but real aspect of 9/11?”

After reading the arguments I have formed my own opinion on the ethics of this image. I

obviously agree with some arguments on both sides. However, I believe that sharing this image

is ethical because it helps Americans, especially those that were not alive during this

catastrophic event, learn from it and grasp a more real understanding of this event. While the

article did not show the “falling man” image, I have seen similar images and none of those

images clearly showed facial features but more so just showed the figure. If the image showed

facial features that could depict who it was, I would agree that it is an invasion of privacy. But

because most of the pictures of jumpers during 9/11 did not show the face clearly, it is an

important image for us to learn from history and truly understand how devastating that day was.