Images of terror during Patriots’ Day run in a loop on TV, computer screens
NEW YORK — The Boston Marathon explosions and their aftermath were captured in chilling images that ran as relentless tape loops of terror online and on TV networks Monday, a sickeningly familiar routine in an age of violence designed for maximum impact.
Broadcast and cable news networks were on the story full time within an hour of the detonations.
Screens barely cut away from the scenes. One video repeated dozens of times quickly became iconic: an overhead shot of the race’s finish line with the blast flashing behind spectators on the right, causing one runner’s legs to wobble as he crumpled to the ground.
Another video, taken by Steve Silva of the Boston Globe, showed the first explosion from ground level. As the camera panned over scurrying people and injured lying on the ground, the second blast goes off a short distance down the street. Whoever was responsible made sure it was not only horrific but well- documented. It happened at the heavily populated finish line of the centrepiece event of Boston’s Patriots’ Day holiday, “almost like New Year’s Eve in broad daylight,” said NBC News’ Brian Williams. It was a place certain to be filled with cameras held by professionals and amateurs alike.
Several times, CBS News ran what appeared to be smartphone footage taken shortly after the first blast.
“Something just blew up,” a woman said. Then the picture becomes fuzzy as the second explosion is heard.
“Run! Go!” the woman shouts.
Television networks depicted chaos but were restrained in showing gore. One oft- repeated image showed a woman with a bloodied leg being rushed away from the scene in a wheelchair. Through wars, school shootings and terror attacks, it’s a drill TV producers have learned from experience.
One of the most gruesome images, a still photograph taken by Charles Krupa of The Associated Press, showed a man being pushed in a wheelchair. His lower leg was blown away, with bloodied bones hanging down.
The image was sent to Associated Press members in two versions. In one, the leg was cropped out and in the other it was shown, said Santiago Lyon, AP’s vice- president and director of photography. Many AP photos are sent directly to news websites with no outside filtering, but this picture was held back so editors could make their own judgments about whether to use it.
“Different markets have different tolerances for violence and gore,” Lyon said. “We’re pretty sure that parts of the world will make good use of it. We didn’t want it to get out in the flow with no human intervention.”
The Atlantic magazine’s website used Krupa’s image but required users to click on a warning before viewing it.
The Huffington Post website ran several gruesome pictures, including Krupa’s and others with injured people lying on blood- splattered sidewalks.