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Several photos have been circulating around on the Internet like wild fire over the last two days. They are supposedly of a couple who committed suicide together at the Grand Gateway (港汇广场) at Xujiahui on Wednesday, 7 May some time around 2.30 pm in the afternoon. The incident has set online forums abuzz (WARNING: THESE LINKS CONTAIN GRAPHIC IMAGES), but we haven't found any reports in the news yet (let us know if you find any).
SOME PHOTOS HAVE BEEN REMOVED FROM THIS POST, AND THE TEXT OF THIS POST HAS BEEN EDITED ACCORDINGLY. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE THE REMOVED PHOTOS, FOLLOW THE LINKS ABOVE — BUT BE WARNED, THEY ARE GRAPHIC.
UPDATE: Via reader titro: Mainstream media such as Oriental Morning Post and Labour Daily have reported on the news media and apparently, only one woman committed suicide and not a couple as circulated in emails. (The picture of the dead man that has been making the rounds online is apparently from a separate suicide case at the same mall some years back.) The woman is described as between 20 and 30 years of age, and was working as a sales assistant in the mall. She jumped from the sixth floor and died instantly when she hit the event space on the ground floor. In another report by Jiefang Daily, eye witnesses say she jumped with an LV bag.
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Kenneth, you had to post the pictures of the dead couple, because? There are some ethical rules in media, which to some degree work in RL media, but obviously don't apply at shanghaiist. I have yet to see a tabloid overstepping that certain border like you just did. Clicks and page impressions are all cool and nice, but if they can't pay for your dinner, get a RL job. I'm so tired of shanghaiists recent hunt for impressions. scr*w you, you have one less reader.
Honey, he warned you NOT to click if you were going to be that easily offended.
I have to say, the girl with head smashed open picture is way out of line even after a jump. The first commentator is right about standards and tabloids.
The only time I've seen pictures like that and found it 'necessary' is on a site dedicated to exposing the horror of the Iraq war's civilian bombing casualties.
This however is a suicide in a mall and posting these pics is quite unethical.
This reminds me of when Marc Vivian Foe died on the pitch and the treatment of that.
I agree. The link to the discussion boards would have been fair enough, no need to repost them. Btw, my feedreader shows them w/o cklicking.
Thanks zideshowbob. For the sake of those coming in via feedreaders, we have pixellated the pics and provided links to original pics instead.
Fine with me, now (Allthough it still looks a little bit bloody).
Are you guys suggesting that Shanghaiist photoshops out all the blood?
Get real you guys!!!
Right, sooo.......any idea why they decided to off themselves and in such a public place? I am far too lazy to bother reading through another thread. I am assuming they jumped from an upper floor, thus making the choice of "more after the jump" a bit macabre.
The picture of the guy is from a suicide at Grand Gateway in '04. This time it was only a 30-year old woman. The cause is still under investigation.
Gonna have to agree with some of the posters here. The last two pictures have absolutely no journalistic quality to them. They don't add enough to this story to warrant the posting of such gruesome images (whether there is a warning or not).
That pic of the brains on the floor was beyond the pale, even tabloids don't show that stuff. Just because the fried rice in the net bar sites for the fenqing show that stuff doesn't mean the normal world wants to see it.
We all kinda know what happens when someones takes a multi-story dive into a hard surface and suicide is never cool (unless zhongnanhai decides to immolate itself).
Very disappointed in you Kenneth. Links to online forums are find but to post the pictures so you can get another $0.10/CPMs? Sad, and unnecessary -- it really lowers my impression of Shanghaist from a reliable news source to another crankety outpost on the web. When you get that desperate for a little extra cash, maybe its time to call China quits and do something else. There is no shame in that. To quote W.C. Fields: "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again. Then quit. No use being a damn fool about it."
Your post shows a complete disregard for journalistic responsibility and integrity.
On the bright side I have never seen so much unanimous agreement on ANYTHING on this blog. That alone should be sign to you. You owe you readers an apology.
I honestly don't think he did it for any bizarre monetary gain that you see pengpeng. I think it was a dumb mistake to post the images. He saw them and rushed to post them without thinking. I don't think there needs to be a huge apology, just remove the images and make a little note about it.
Let me begin by saying that I read your blog on a daily basis. For the past two years, the Shanghaiist has been one of my favourite alternative media sources covering China and I've thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
Until now.
I'm very disappointed in this post. Maybe you don't think that the same rules apply for blogs (or online journalism?), but as a Canadian journalist I'm astounded that the Shanghaiist would be so insensitive to its readers, not to mention the people who were involved in this suicide.
The fundamental reason why news organizations around the world do not write about suicides (and have this written in their ethics codes) is quite obvious. Its disrespectful to the feelings and privacy of these individuals' loved ones and this kind of coverage can also be harmful to other potential victims.
Many people read your website as a source of information and your work should be in the public interest. But this post and these pictures you published today do not reflect that, even if you've blurred out the victims faces in the photos. When covering suicides you have to exercise extreme caution. You chose a different route -- one of distaste, carelessness and most importantly, irresponsibility to your readers.
When i saw these images i was disappointed, yesterday.
But in the end I thought that these are the results of chinese official media coverage (and censor) of this kind of events.
Its very hard to find in chinese media suicide'e informations (remember the Huawei engineers stories...?).
So I think that this kind of official media enviroment, force, in some media, as this website, all the news about this kind of outburst. So I dont blame u, even if i think that a link to the picture was enough.
b.
There isn't a :rolleyes: big enough for April's post.
Ken made a mistake, realized it, and responded to readers. Do we really need an essay about it?
Maybe Shanghaiist should also do something about some softcore ads here, i.e. massage services..
It was difficult to find much information about the incident when I first heard about it so I want to thank Kenneth for writing something about it.
Here are some news reports from Chinese media on this incident:
http://sh.xinmin.cn/shehui/2008/05/09/1144006.html
http://sh.eastday.com/eastday/ldms/l/20080509/u1a427925.html
http://sh.eastday.com/eastday/shnews/qtmt/20080508/u1a427888.html
According to these reports, she was a sales person working in the mall.
Writing 'bout something vs. showing some cruel and gory pictures.
Quite a difference...
This must be a Republican website, splattered brains is ok but whenever there is a T&A scandal we all have to follow some link. How about some female full frontal to sooth our sensibilities and lift our spirits?
It's okay, pictures have been removed!
It's funny how some readers only post comments to criticize and/or insult others (see all posts about olympic torch and pro-Tibet protests), and when there is some blood on pictures they are highly "shocked".
I bet you all these idiots were ranting and raving but secretly clicking on those goddamm links.
I don't find the pictures shocking. If someone jumps from a high place and lands on a hard surface it's quite obvious what is going to happen.