After NASCAR driver, Aric Almirola was hospitalized following a fiery three-vehicle crash at the Kansas Speedway on May 13, professional racecar driver, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is facing criticism for sharing an agonizing photo of the event to his social media.
Earnhardt took to Twitter to share an image from an article by SB Nation that shows injured driver, Aric Almirola looking distressed after being extracted from his car following the fiery crash at the Kansas Speedway.
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In the caption, Earnhardt Jr. wrote, “Just me? Or is it quite a bit in poor taste to use such photo.”
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Soon enough, the champion driver found that good or bad taste is kind of subjective as his followers got heated up over the question.
Just me? Or is it quite a bit in poor taste to use such a photo. 🤔😠 pic.twitter.com/UH3RgX4ONe
— Dale Earnhardt Jr. (@DaleJr) May 16, 2017
While some agreed with him that the photo shared in the article was in poor taste, others shared that images showing injured athletes were common. Sportscaster Jim Noble revealed that journalistically, it was “OK” and ethics should only “draw the line at injuries that could be life-threatening.”
NASCAR driver, Ryan Ellis also tweeted to Earnhardt Jr., saying it was wrong to share such an image of their fellow driver in agony.
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Several others pointed out that it was a tad hypocritical to add commentary to the ethics of sharing such an image if he believed it was in bad taste, with one user writing, “You just shared it with your 2.1 million followers so that’s not exactly perfect.”
While Earnhardt Jr. clearly sparked a debate online about the ugly reality of this sport, one user tweeted that sharing the image was “over the top,” adding that there needs to be boundaries with the media.
What do you think? Was a line crossed by sharing or is it just a part of the sport?
[H/T Womanista]
