It is not often that we take it upon ourselves to lecture others in the field of journalism. It is a hard enough job trying to keep balance and be ethically correct on a daily basis.

But we feel we must speak up about a photograph which was published on the internet news portal Inews and the General Workers’ Union-owned l-orizzont yesterday. Both mediums published photographs of 44-year-old nurse Jacquiline Depasquale, groping for help as she lay bleeding after being stabbed 12 times.

That the woman is still alive makes the photograph even more tasteless. It seems that some of the media got there before the police even did – raising another issue, did they use a radio to scan the police airwaves?

But to take photographs of the woman, clearly very much in distress and bleeding out, just violates all notions of privacy, ethics and basic common decency. We understand that different mediums have different policies – our newspapers do not publish photographs of victims – but surely, there is a line which should not be crossed.

The photograph also places a policeman in really bad light. A police officer – if not trained – cannot administer first aid to a victim who is injured. The photograph makes it look like he is just standing around as the woman bleeds to death. This is not the case; as we have mentioned, the officer cannot intervene and it just makes the whole affair look awful.

News is news, people want to read about it and see photos, but surely publishing such photographs is just plain out of order. It also makes us wonder what lengths mediums will go to, to get a story.

The fact that the media knew about the stabbing before the ambulance was even called for shows another ugly side of our society. We have become so plugged in that whoever came across the scene first thought it was better to call newsrooms than call for an ambulance. It really is terrible.

And to what gain? Will such a photograph sell more newspaper copies? Will it make a difference to circulation? Or is it simply a move to give the readers what they want?

We reiterate that the fact that the woman was alive when the photograph was taken makes it even worse. What about her family? What about her? What about her privacy? We say again, we understand that different mediums have different content policies, but surely a more ‘tasteful’ photograph could have been used.

According to our laws, it is not legal to publish photographs of people taken in public without their knowledge and consent. What makes this different? We surely doubt that the photographer asked a bleeding woman whether he could take photographs of her. This could be a ground-breaking case if it makes it to court. We believe that the media has a responsibility to report the news and inform people; we do not believe that that constitutes taking and publishing photographs of a woman crying for help in a pool a blood after being brutally stabbed.