As gay marriage became legal in California last night, some newsrooms were flooded with images of same-sex couples exchanging vows. That is bound to set off some passionate conversation about the dreaded kissing photo.
Some newsrooms have policies that discourage running photos or video of same-sex couples kissing. Some photo editors and news directors are inclined to run the kissing images, because they capture the climactic moment of a wedding.
Interestingly enough, some advocates of gay marriage bristle at the kissing photos, arguing that they have become a cliché that turns people away from the story. Of course, other gay marriage proponents argue that when editors refuse to show a photo of a simple kiss, they give in to dehumanizing forces.
Four years ago, when public officials around the country began to test the laws that banned gay and lesbian couples from legally marrying, journalists learned a lot. The audience, in some cases, protested mightily over the photos. They accused their local television stations and newspapers of supporting the liberal cause of gay marriage by displaying the images. Others celebrated the diversity of same-sex couples that is rarely represented in visual journalism.
Given the number of pressing national news stories this past weekend, it wouldn’t surprise me if few newsrooms anticipated the editing decisions they faced. And given the fact that gay marriage became legal at 5 p.m. on the Pacific coast, that left the decisions in many newsrooms to the night staff, who might not have even been around four years ago when we last had this discussion.
To that end, here are some questions to ask now, about editing images of gay marriage, kissing or otherwise:
- What is your newsroom policy on images of same-sex couples? How did that policy evolve? Does it need to be updated?
- Is there one dominant image in the presentation? How will that image influence the tone of the overall package?
- How can the story be documented in a single image?
- Is there an opportunity for secondary images?
- Are there some formats where kissing photos might be less inflammatory, for instance a slide show or a montage of video clips?
- Does it matter if the couple is local or not?
- How do images of protesters fit into this story?
