Sir, - At a time when the subject of privacy and the media has occupied so many column inches in newspapers and so much attention in other media, I was astounded to see a picture (23cms X 16 cms approx.) in The Irish Times (September 10th) which underscored everything that is wrong with in the newspaper business when it comes to photographs. I refer to the photograph of Ms Ketlie Jean, aged 19, who had just been taken from the water following the Haiti ferry disaster.
Ms Ketlie Jean was dead. I don't know her and it is unlikely anyone else in this country knew her. But if it is wrong to print a photograph of Princess Diana in a smashed-up car, why is it all right to print the photograph of Ms Ketlie Jean? Is entitlement to privacy an issue only for public figures and the rest don't matter?
I wonder at times if standards at The Irish Times are not just a day by day issue. - Yours, etc.,
Knocklyon, Dublin 16.