Ethics Education Needed

Ethics Lesson #2: Know thy rules, or else ye shall be judged!

A local photographer who recently made national news hopefully learned this hard lesson.

I don’t normally drop a name when it’s negative, but in this case I don’t have to protect the offender because by now every sports shooter in the country knows who Andrew is.

Freelance sports shooter Andrew Weber probably became an instant celebrity amongst his friends and family when they witnessed him on ESPN during his attempt to capture the image of the Gatorade pour over OSU coach Jim Tressel’s head at the end of the Rose Bowl.

But that act of aggressiveness put him in very hot water with his peers.

According to Mark Terrill, a photographer who witnessed the incident and vented on sportshooter.com, Weber ignored an agreed-upon rule to not set foot onto the field until the end of the game. Weber and two other photogs didn’t adhere to this rule and rushed onto the sidelines to capture the Gatorade pour.

Needless to say, Andrew, wielding his wide-angle lens, became an infamous shot blocker to many angry rule-abiding photographers.

There is something to be said about education. Young Weber might have shot lots of images in his budding career, but what he really needs is a journalism ethics college course. His exposure in Sports Illustrated will not get him very far if he continues to build his reputation for being selfish, arrogant and ethically challenged.

Hopefully it's not too late for him, but he sets a great example of what NOT to do for others. I am sad to admit that between Alan Detrich and Andrew Weber, I have plenty of local material for the ethics portion of my photography classes at Owens Community College.  

What would he learn in a journalism ethics college course? NPPA's Ethical Code, copyright laws and photographer's rights. Students are also exposed to real examples of ethical lapses, as well as ethical courage. After all, isn't that how we learn; from our own mistakes, as well as those made by others?

For a very insightful and interesting conversation on ethical behavior in the sports world, visit the sportshooter.com discussion threat on this incident.