Outrage on the Web over NY Post photo capturing subway death

[jimmy olsen]

This guy's so full of shit. Trying to help him my ass.

That front page makes the Daily Mail look restrained.


http://todaynews.today.com/_news/2012/12/04/15676204-just-crazy-outrage-on-the-web-over-photo-capturing-subway-death?lite

'Just crazy': Outrage on the Web over photo capturing subway death
By Scott Stump, TODAY contributor

A photo on the cover of Tuesday's New York Post depicting a man struggling to climb off a subway track before he was fatally struck by a train has drawn heated reactions — specifically chastising the paper and the photographer. Editor's note: The image appears below, and some viewers may find it disturbing. Scroll down to see the picture, or navigate away from the page to avoid it.

Queens man Ki Suk Han, 58, died after he was pushed on the tracks by an unnamed attacker moments before an oncoming train arrived at the 49th Street N, R, Q subway platform in Manhattan on Monday afternoon, according to police. On Tuesday afternoon, police confirmed they had someone in custody in connection with the attack. The photographer who shot the chilling image, New York Post freelancer R. Umar Abbasi, has sparked outrage on social media from those wondering why he did not do something to help pull Han off the track instead of taking pictures.
Advertise | AdChoices

Story: Man questioned in case of NYC subway rider pushed to his death

Abbasi told the New York Post that he started running toward Han and hitting the flash on his camera while shooting photos, hoping to catch the attention of the train's driver.

"The most painful part was I could see him getting closer to the edge. He was getting so close,'' Abbasi told The Post. "And people were running toward him and the train. I didn't think about [the attacker] until after. In that moment, I just wanted to warn the train – to try and save a life."

In the Twitterverse and elsewhere, many are not buying that explanation. One is hard-pressed to find anyone defending Abbasi's actions.

Live Poll
Q: Should the photographer have put down the camera and helped Han?

Yes, he should have done more to help. 80%
No, he did what he could. 4%
Not sure; if I had been in his shoes, I might have frozen 17%


"Getting a conductor's attention with a flash — and maybe even blinding him with it — doesn't seem like the way you'd necessarily help someone that's clinging to the subway platform,'' wrote The Atlantic's Alexander Abad-Santos.

The New York Post's decision to run the photo at all, particularly on the cover with the headline "Doomed," has also been questioned online, given that it shows the final moments of a man's life. There also have been those defending Abbasi by saying not all of the facts are known yet and that the real culprit is the man who pushed Han on the tracks.

The perpetrator has been described as a panhandler who was cursing and intimidating strangers before Han went to try to calm him down. The man then flung Han on the tracks, police and witnesses told The Post.

Take a look at a sampling of reactions to the photo and tell us, what do you think the photographer should have done?

Front page can be looked at here.
http://pbs.twimg.com/media/A9RXxPBCcAArVIP.png

[Phillip V]

He had enough time to try and climb out, but no bystanders had time to save him?

[Phillip V]

The provider of that front-page photo pretty much just stood over the fallen old man taking pictures from beginning to death.

[DGuller]

He would've been better off keeping his mouth shut, rather than make some weak excuse about warning the train operator with a flash.  Just again this shows how News Corp employs the utter dregs of humanity.

[Syt]

This wouldn't have happened if Han had shot first.

[CountDeMoney]

This wouldn't have happened if Han had shot first.

[Grey Fox]

Photographs everywhere are scum. Assholes are more likely to take a picture then help you. If I ever see one in distress I'm gonna take pictures of them.

[alfred russel]

He would've been better off keeping his mouth shut, rather than make some weak excuse about warning the train operator with a flash.  Just again this shows how News Corp employs the utter dregs of humanity.

you can count on them to milk this story too.

[garbon]

Photographs everywhere are scum. Assholes are more likely to take a picture then help you. If I ever see one in distress I'm gonna take pictures of them.

A photograph in distress?

[Grey Fox]

Photographs everywhere are scum. Assholes are more likely to take a picture then help you. If I ever see one in distress I'm gonna take pictures of them.

A photograph in distress?

Yes. The odds say they must have car accidents too.

[garbon]

I think you mean photographers.

[Grey Fox]

I think you mean photographers.

I knew there was something I just could not find it.

[garbon]

By the way, if the photographer was really just taking photos then he has some gall:

http://news.yahoo.com/suspect-fatal-nyc-subway-push-implicates-self-072505541.html

He said he was shocked that people nearer to the victim did not try to help in the 22 seconds before the train struck.

"It took me a second to figure out what was happening ... I saw the lights in the distance. My mind was to alert the train," Abbasi said.

"The people who were standing close to him ... they could have moved and grabbed him and pulled him up. No one made an effort," he added.

[Phillip V]

IIRC, police said the old man was on the tracks for up to one-and-a-half minutes.

[Zoupa]

These stories always piss me right off. I'm 100% sure i would have helped the man, so would any of you guys, no?

So what the hell is going on in these folks' minds? I just don't get it.