Fourteen years after taking the iconic image "Raising The Flag at Ground Zero," Tom Franklin has transitioned to a teaching career at Montclair State.
By Paul Brubaker | The Backgrounder
Firefighters (left to right) George Johnson, Dan McWilliams and Billy Eisengrein raise a flag at the World Trade Center in New York after the 9/11 attacks. (AP Photo/Copyright 2001, The Record of Bergen County, Thomas E. Franklin, Staff Photographer) Fourteen years after multimedia journalist Tom Franklin took the unforgettable 9-11 photograph, 'Raising The Flag At Ground Zero,' the image prompts him to ask, "What if, in 2001, social media was what it is now and people had access to camera phones, Twitter and Instagram?"
Tom Franklin (used with permission) It's the kind of question Franklin might put to his students, now that he recently has left the newsroom for the classroom, teaching journalism at Montclair State University.
In the latest edition of The Backgrounder Podcast, Franklin talks about many of the questions facing 21st century journalists - among them, whether news outlets should use images taken by a murderer as he commits his crimes, whether journalists should be held to professional standards in a way similar to lawyers and doctors, and whether there are times when a photojournalist should put down the camera and help someone in danger.
He also recalls some of the highlights of his more than 20 years in the field, and remembers the Time magazine photo that originally ignited his passion for photojournalism.
Paul Brubaker, former journalist and congressional spokesman, keeps it real with the people who make New Jersey the most fascinating place on Earth. Check back every week for a new episode of 'The Backgrounder.'