A picture is worth a thousand words. One image of a drowned child changed the course of a continent’s immigration policy and the narrative around the world.
Yet we wonder why nothing changes following mass shootings—when there are no images in the news, no way to see the human cost of these tragedies. No photos of the victims. Just endless speculation during the uncertain early hours followed by the same tired stories, arguments, and politics.
The solution is simple. The news media must do their job and stop abdicating their duty to show the full picture when covering mass shootings by including photojournalism on par with its text and headlines. The President should lead by example by covering these stories with the realistic, albeit shocking and violent imagery, on whitehouse.gov.