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Journalists cover disasters, conflicts, calamities and wars on a regular basis. Thereby, pictures are published, which can disturb or frighten viewers. The editorial decision to print shocking visual content represents a central conflict involving the duty to inform, ethical concerns, and economic considerations. However, this decision-making process largely excludes the viewer. It is therefore appropriate to take a closer look at this issue from the viewpoint of the media user. Are there scenarios whereby media users require or at least tacitly accept graphic images? What are their thoughts concerning the one-click-away principle? This explorative qualitative study serves to generate several hypotheses concerning these two central topics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]