Since quite a few readers asked the same question, I'm glad to have the opportunity - not to apologize or engage in self-justification - simply to tell all who wrote or phoned or just wondered how and why we decided to publish the photos.
We had eight photos transmitted by Associated Press and United Press International to consider for publication. We selected three that showed the sequence of what happened - one of Dwyer holding a handgun, warning reporters and aides to stay away; one of him holding the weapon to his mouth, and one of Dwyer slumped on the floor moments after the shooting. The first two pictures appeared at the top of the front page, and the third appeared on an inside page.
We chose not to use the most gruesome of the eight photos, one taken a split second after Dwyer had pulled the trigger.
These choices and the decision to publish three pictures were made after considerable discussion by a group of senior editors. Later, some other editors objected strongly to using the photo of Dwyer with the gun at his mouth, but after further consideration, it was decided to publish the ones we did and not others.
Underlying the consensus was that Dwyer, however tortured by his conviction or whatever the depths of his agony, had chosen to make his death as public as possible, and there was no way to dignify it without causing a basic distortion of the most important news story of the day, and perhaps in months, for readers of this region.
Dwyer, one of the highest-ranking officials in Pennsylvania, had confronted society with a very public, horrifying act. We felt that we had an obligation to our readers to portray the story for what it was; that if we published only the photo of him holding the gun while warning others to stay away, we would not really convey what had happened.
