Photo Gallery: The Power of Elections
John Moore
Bhutto’s Last Stand, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, 2007
Pakistan's former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto's ultimate goal was to "get close to her people," says photojournalist John Moore. After her first campaign rally in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, in the 2008 elections, she tried to reach out to her followers and "bring Pakistan back from the brink," he says. "Ultimately, that's what did her in."
In December 2007, Bhutto and the Pakistan People's Party gathered thousands of her followersin Rawalpindi, a chaotic, crowded city, making security efforts difficult. She had just returned from her eight-year exile to speak at length of the "necessity to defeat terrorism in Pakistan," says Moore. "She talked about rolling back the extremists and taking back Pakistan for the moderate majority." After she finished her speech and stepped into her car, Moore kept snapping photos. Though the car was bulletproof, she opened the rooftop and stood up, exposed to the crowd and surrounded by throngs of people. "I heard the shots, I saw her go down," says Moore. "As I raised my camera again, the suicide bomber set off his charge. The explosion encompassed her vehicle." Moore's later photo of the assassin firing at her car earned him the Pulitzer Prize. "Bhutto's Last Stand" and other shots taken during this rally in Rawalpindi earned Moore World Press Photo honors.
Pulitzer Prize-winner John Moore has covered Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan during his career as a photojournalist. Besides the Pulitzer Prize, his honors include the 2008 Photojournalist of the Year award by the National Press Photographers Association, awards for World Press Photo of the Year, and the prestigious Robert Capa Gold Medal Award from the Overseas Press Club.
Moore stated himself in an interview that after the first suicide assassination attempt on Bhutto that " From then on there were hundreds of media around her constantly." The media was constantly around her for the 'money shot' and Mr. Moore got it. Mr. Moore followed her around like all the other media to get the moment of her death via assassination. This is the money shot, and I am sure it made Mr. Moore a lot of money. Why doesn't Mr. Moore do some journalism about the very issues of poverty and social injustice that Bhutto was involved with? A: because he makes more money and fame by covering the hot spots-- the violent parts of the world. After the Bhotto thing he went to Afghanistan. Being an military embeded journalist gets Mr. Moore and the other embeded reporters their best shots but is the journalism is cheap and slanted. There are several examples that you can read about on the WWW about the slanted coverage done by embeded reporters. Mr. Moore and his ilk are making a lot of money hanging out with the military in conflict zones. It is cheap journalism but it get the American public fired up and numb to the complexities of the conflict. Also, I must say the blurry photo suck.
goodreader, October 21, 2009 at 5:54 pm