Irresponsible Photojournalism

[Craig Haber <albatross@harnessnet.com.au>]

G'day,

Melbourne aus.rail'ers may have seen a photograph on page 94 of the
Herald Sun of Thurs October 29.  Below is a copy of the letter I have
emailed to the editor of the Herald Sun (hseditor@hwt.newsltd.com.au),
if you agree with me you should do the same.

Cheers,
CH.
----
I wish to object to a piece of extremely irresponsible photojournalism
which appeared on page 94 of your Thursday, October 29 edition.  Several
of my colleagues, all experienced railwaymen, were equally concerned.

Accompanying the story titled "Craig a sleeper for 2000 Games" is a
photograph of Craig Mottram running down the middle of rail tracks at
Lara  Colleen Petch is credited as the photographer.

This is extremely foolish behavior on several levels, and should not be
condoned by the Herald Sun.

It is illegal to cross a railway line at an unmarked point.
It is illegal to trespass on railway property
If an authorised person is required to work on or near railway lines, he
or she is required to wear high visibility, reflective clothing.  Mr.
Mottram is not.

There are no pedestrian or road overbridges in the Lara area - your
photographer must have climbed a signal bridge to take his photograph -
again, this is illegal.

Legal issues aside - this behavior is extremely dangerous!
All three tracks are Lara are signalled for two-way operation, that
means a train can approach from any direction on any track at any time.
The track is among the busiest in Victoria, with commuter services to
Geelong and Warrnambool, and the main interstate rail link to Adelaide.
Trains operate through this section at up to 130km/h.

Every year a number of lives are lost on our rail system, particularly
vulnerable are children playing on the lines, or using them as a
short-cut to walk along.  Such accidents cause immeasurable trauma to
their families, and railway personnel involved.  And yet the Herald Sun
has seen fit to present such an image, and condone such behavior.

It is in fact extremely unlikely that Mr. Mottram trains by running
along rail lines - any railwayman will vouch for the difficulty in
walking on the coarse ballast, and it is very dangerous to attempt
running on such a surface - it is more likely that your photographer has
created such an image to match the cliché headline.

I believe the Herald Sun must now show some responsibility by alerting
its readers to the dangers of inappropriate behaviour on or near railway
property, and should be more responsible in the material it presents in
future.

---end letter.