Nearly every major news broadcasting corporation, from MSNBC to Fox News, The New York Times, and Huffington Post, covered the story of the two-year-old girl in China who was run over by a truck and ignored by over a dozen people. This story sparked international outrage and went viral on the internet.
MSNBC's version: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44984735#.TqVwquDN0qk
Fox News version: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2011/10/18/chinese-girl-2-run-over-by-van-ignored-by-at-least-18-bystanders/
The gravity of the situation involving the girl Yueyue Wang is itself extremely controversial, and many people asked the question: "How can people just ignore a little girl dying in the street?" While most people agree that leaving anyone lying in the street after being hit by a car is unthinkable, the issue of the graphic content of the video being made available on the internet is not as black and white.
When first released, the video was not edited for its content, and a viewer would literally see a child being run over by a truck, lying in the street while people walked by, and then being run over by a second truck before an old woman dragged her away from the road. They would see the blood pooling in the street, and words fail to describe how truly horrifying it was to witness. News broadcasters that ran the video uncut were criticized for its content and many viewers demanded it be taken down because of its extremely graphic images. Others said the video needed to remain uncensored to show the world the worst side of apathy.
The question is, who is right in this situation? How graphic is too graphic? Does the tragedy of the situation become dulled if it is censored? People have a much stronger response to the uncensored video, but is showing this little girl's death to prove a point immoral? Personally, I'm torn in my opinion. I actually watched the entire video, and it was appalling; one of the worst experiences of my life. I'm not sure if I regret my decision to view it or not, however. The imagery will certainly resurface if I ever find myself in a situation in which I am a bystander discovering someone's life in danger, and I have to make the decision to help or just walk away. I think that, because of the video, I will not be able to leave that person behind.
I think this is a situation where there is no right or wrong. Some news stations continue to run the entire video, and others do not. It is their choice, and they are neither right nor wrong in making it. People also need to choose whether or not to view this video, and do with that imagery what they will. Hopefully, Yueyue will touch at least a few hearts and convince them to do whatever they can to never leave a human being alone to die.
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