- AFP published two photos of a man who was portrayed as dead, lying on the ground in a street in Wuhan, China.
- Many internet users accuse the news agency of suggesting that the man died of the coronavirus and of fueling psychosis.
- The photo legends, very factual, do not at any time confirm this.
The importance of the legend. On Saturday February 1st, Agence France Presse published two shock photos on Twitter and Instagram. They were taken two days earlier by photographer Hector Retamal, special envoy to Wuhan, the Chinese city where the coronavirus epidemic began in early December. On these, we can see a man lying in a street wearing a mask. AFP said the man died.
On the last day, Leo Ramirez, left with @hectorretamal
for a final city tour, call SĂ©bastien, who stayed at the hotel, to finish an article.
On the roadway, not far from a hospital, lies the body of a man whom no one approaches pic.twitter.com/ZhJqEnxp7b
View this post on Instagram
AFP Photo đź“· @hectorretamalphotographer - Dead man lies on an empty street at China's virus ground zero -. A gray-haired man wearing a face mask lies dead on the pavement at ground zero of China's virus epidemic, a plastic shopping bag in one hand. . On what would typically be a crowded street in Wuhan, an industrial city of 11 million under quarantine, there are only a few passersby and they dare not go near him. . AFP journalists saw the body on Thursday morning, not long before an emergency vehicle arrived carrying police and medical staff in full-body protective suits. . The man lay straight on his back in front of a closed furniture store. Medical staff in blue overalls gently shrouded his body with a blue blanket. . The ambulance left, and police stacked supermarket cardboard boxes to hide the scene. . AFP could not determine how the man, who appeared to be aged in his 60s, had died. AFP contacted police and local health officials afterwards but could not get details on his case. . But the reaction of the police and medical staff in hazmat suits, as well as some of the bystanders, highlighted the fear pervading the city. . A woman standing near the man, wearing pink pajamas and a Mao cap, said she believed he had died from the virus. . #photojournalism
A post shared by AFP Photo (@afpphoto) on Jan 31, 2020 at 2:17 pm PST
One of the two photos shows a cyclist passing in front of the body without seeming to pay attention and, on the second, people in full suits surround the man. These pictures were quickly taken up by numerous international newspapers. But on networks, the comments of Internet users fuse. "It is irresponsible, there is no evidence that this man died of the virus and yet you establish an unequivocal link," writes a user. "You are misleading people, do you have the full picture?" No ! You are not telling the truth! », Says another. Many also criticize the photo legend for being ambiguous. Some internet users go so far as to suspect the photo to be completely false.
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Under the photo posted on Instagram, AFP explains that the agency's journalists saw the body Thursday morning in front of a closed furniture store. The agency stresses that the few passers-by venturing into the streets "do not dare to approach him".
Shortly after this discovery, "an emergency vehicle carrying police and medical personnel in full protective gear" arrived on the scene. Staff take away the body after "stacking supermarket boxes to hide the scene".
AFP said at the end of the seventh paragraph that it "could not determine how the man, who seemed old in his sixties, died." She says she was unable to obtain further details from the police and local health authorities. On Twitter, she reproduces the statement of one of the journalists reporting in the city with the photographer behind the photo: "We can never verify if he died of the virus. But in a country like China, a man who was left on the road for two hours 50 meters from the entrance to a hospital was really significant. ”
Show psychosis, not fuel it
Faced with this lack of information, some put forward hypotheses on the causes of human death. “The Italian press says that the man died of a heart attack. It seems that there is nothing to do with the virus, “says a user. After verification, this information comes from an article in the conservative newspaper Il Giornale , owned and mainly controlled by the Berlusconi family. His claims about the cause of death are not sourced.
The lack of details on the death of this man obscures the initial message of this photo: no one dares to approach the body. According to AFP, "the reaction of the police and medical personnel in protective suits, as well as some of the passers-by, highlighted the fear that permeates the city".
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