The Code of Ethics of the National Press Photographers Ass'n includes the following:

The Code of Ethics of the Society of Professional Journalists includes the following:

• Avoid stereotyping. Journalists should examine the ways their values and experiences may shape their reporting.

• Label advocacy and commentary.

• Never deliberately distort facts or context, including visual information. Clearly label illustrations and re-enactments.

Below are statements published by the photographer on his Twitter page after the Daily Forty Niner, the student run CSULB newspaper, published the photo and others by the photographer (a journalism student.) The Daily Forty Niner did so with the caption:

A man stands with his child in front of police during demonstrations Sunday in downtown Long Beach. Police pointed rubber bullet guns to prompt crowds to back away. Richard Grant/ Daily Forty-Niner

[Scroll down for further.] .

After the image went "viral," the Daily Forty-Niner published this statement

While covering the demonstrations in Long Beach on Sunday, May 31 protesting the killing of George Floyd, student photographer Richard Grant, who is a contributor to the Daily Forty-Niner, captured an image that has garnered international attention.

The Daily Forty-Niner included this photo in a gallery that portrayed numerous aspects of the demonstrations and ran the following caption with the image:

A man stands with his child in front of police during demonstrations Sunday in downtown Long Beach. Police pointed rubber bullet guns to prompt crowds to back away.

This photo is real and was edited by the photographer for color correction and framing. The Daily Forty-Niner student reporter and photographer who were on the scene confirmed that this image, along with the others in the photo gallery, accurately reflects the essence of what they saw and experienced at the event. [photos included in statement linked above, omitted here]

The student photographer shared this image and others independently on his own social media channels, which garnered hundreds of thousands of shares. Since being shared on social media, numerous accounts have adopted the image and added their own message, caption and interpretation.

The Daily Forty-Niner is a student-run publication, advised by journalism faculty. It is a media laboratory and learning environment. We are committed to utilizing this situation and all real-world journalism experience to further the practical education of our student journalists. This moment in history continues to be part of that educational process.

Student reporters will continue to be dedicated to reporting the truth and documenting impactful events in the community as part of the learning experience.

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You've read the standards journalists should aspire to meet. Do you think the photograph and its caption met those standards? More fundamentally, do you believe that photograph accurately conveyed the events of that day in Long Beach?

Let us know at via LBREPORT.com's Facebook page or our Disqus comment system below.

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