As a human being you spend most of your time stumbling over this little rock in the universe, desperately trying to add your own brushstroke to the intricate mosaic of life. It is simply human nature to avoid the frightening topic of death, however inevitable and relevant it may be. Because we like to dance around the uncomfortable idea of ​​inevitable death, we tend to be caught by surprise when it is thrown in our faces through the mass media. One such nationwide case of exposure to death began in July 1975, when a photojournalist for the Boston Herald American sparked an avalanche of controversy by publishing photos of a woman and child falling to their deaths from a fire escape (Ephron 1). .Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The Boston Photographs (as they were commonly called) gained popularity as they were spread by various media outlets across the country. Many were outraged and labeled the photos inappropriate and taboo and debate still exists over their placement in the public domain. Some literary experts, like Nora Ephron, believe that such photos have value as emotional and human pieces that highlight one of the most important parts of life: death. In her essay, The Boston Photographs, Ephron suggests that such images should be published as a representation of the human side of news. She suggests that photos like those in Boston serve to remind the public that there are a people behind the headlines (1-6). I suggest that Ephron is wrong in her assumption and that the publication of such photos only ignites our society's growing desensitization to mortality. There is no denying that these photos were sensational, they went around the country and were published in more than four hundred newspapers. . The photos were edgy, new and explored a topic you almost never see in the news. Everyone saw the photos and almost everyone disagreed with their publication. Ephron herself reveals the fact that the public outcry caused by the photos was widespread and that those who published them were considered villains for invading the privacy of the dead. It seemed the public wasn't ready for such raw and real depictions of death in their news. Charles Seib of the Washington Star said it was "the greatest reaction to a published article" he had ever seen. One reader even equated voyeuristic photographs with “Assigning the agony of a human being in terror of imminent death to the status of sideshow” (3-5). However negative the public reaction to the photographs, there may still be a modicum of validity in publishing images that deal with death. Ephron states that the news follows the trend of portraying events such as disasters and accidents involving loss of life from a cold, analytical perspective, providing statistics and describing the physical consequences without any acknowledgment of the victims (5). In a sense, this approach can be seen as a method of underestimating death. Some might even argue that not showing a body eliminates an individual from the news altogether leaving only a headline. It is plausible that humans may lose true sympathy for the dead if we never have the opportunity to see what death truly is. Death in its raw and unadulterated form as in the Boston photographs. As useful as it may be to understand and appreciate the complexity of death, there is no need for excessive representation of death as in the Boston photographs. People don't need it.