Every year, around the beginning of April, I find myself getting lost in the emotions I felt after witnessing and photographing the aftermath of the explosions near the finish line of the Boston Marathon in 2013.
Editor’s Note: This is first of two articles written by Mr. Hoenk about the Boston Marathon. This post was written …
Update on 12/16/21: This video has been removed by its creator.
Two days ago was the anniversary of the Boston Marathon bombings, and in true Boston spirit, the city came out in force to show that this tragedy had not stolen, but rather strengthened its spirit.
Tragedies happen. We weep. We grieve. And then, life moves on. I suppose it’s good that it stands still …
In response to the highly controversial Rolling Stone cover of Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokhar Tsarnaev revealed earlier this week, tactical photographer Sgt. Sean Murphy of the Mass. Police Department released a set of haunting images showing what Boston Magazine is calling "the real face of terror."
The jarring images were taken during Tsarnaev's manhunt and arrest, and have resulted in Sgt. Murphy's being relieved of duty as he awaits a status hearing to determine his professional fate.
In an all-too-clear display of how journalistic carelessness can lead to big legal troubles, the two "Bag Men" who were shown on the front page of the New York Post following the Boston Marathon bombings have filed a defamation lawsuit against the paper on Wednesday of this week.
Patriots Day. This Massachusetts holiday celebrates the battles of Lexington and Concord, which were the first battles of the American Revolutionary War in 1775. The day always begins with battle re-enactments. Then the Red Sox play an 11AM game, and during and after the game there is the running of the Boston Marathon, a race that first ran in 1897.
In 2010, then BU journalism student Johannes Hirn put together a photo essay titled "Will Box for Passport." The essay was based around a boxer by the name of Tamerlan Tsarnaev, better known now as "Suspect #1" or the "Black Hat bomber" from the Boston Marathon bombing.
According to an NPPA report, once Tsarnaev and his younger brother were listed as suspects, several publishers both large and small found and began using content from the essay without ever ascertaining Hirn's permission. All the while, Hirn was on the phone with his former BU professor Peter Southwick to figure out how he could properly license the images before websites and blogs began stealing them -- it was already too late.
We reported yesterday that the FBI has issued an open call for photographs and videos that may help provide clues in the Boston Marathon bombing case. Since that time, investigators have begun circulating photos of two "possible suspects" spotted in images of the scene, suggesting that analyzing crowdsourced images has indeed been useful in this case.
It's not just government law enforcement that is attempting to use public photographs to identify the attacker, though: the large online communities Reddit and 4chan have also begun carrying out their own crowdsourced photo analysis.
In the aftermath of the tragic Boston Marathon bombing on Monday, investigators are turning to crowdsourced photographs and videos in order to hunt down the perpetrator(s). Authorities are calling for anyone at the marathon that day to send in photographs or videos captured in the area.