Today's ethics lesson from Beijing: You don't win many friends when you let some other poor sap take a dive for your noble journalistic purposes.

Photographer Liu Tao took some heat for his photos in the Beijing Youth Daily of a bicyclist hitting a submurged pothole. Readers accused him of lying in wait for someone to take a fall.

Liu said, "Without my pictures, the pit would not be noticed by the government, and there would perhaps be more people falling over."

Very selfless of you, Mr. Liu. Generations of photojournalists will not forget your sacrifice.

(And a hat-tip to the crazy/brave cyclist riding through Beijing while holding an umbrella! Very hardcore, dude!)

>Photographer criticised [Ananova, via BoingBoing]