John Temple was the editor of Rocky Mountain News in April 1999, when two students committed mass murder at Columbine High School. The photos he published that day would go on to win the Pulitzer Prize and enrage Daniel Rohrbough’s mom.

This episode was produced by Hady Mawajdeh, fact-checked by Laura Bullard, engineered by Paul Robert Mounsey, and edited and hosted by Sean Rameswaram.

Transcript at vox.com/todayexplained  

Support Today, Explained by making a financial contribution to Vox! bit.ly/givepodcasts

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices