Posted on 09/08/2005 3:21:09 PM PDT by pabianice
WASHINGTON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - When U.S. officials asked the media not to take pictures of those killed by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, they were censoring a key part of the disaster story, free speech watchdogs said on Wednesday.
The move by the Federal Emergency Management Agency is in line with the Bush administration's ban on images of flag-draped U.S. military coffins returning from the Iraq war, media monitors said in separate telephone interviews.
"It's impossible for me to imagine how you report a story whose subject is death without allowing the public to see images of the subject of the story," said Larry Siems of the PEN American Center, an authors' group that defends free expression.
U.S. newspapers, television outlets and Web sites have featured pictures of shrouded corpses and makeshift graves in New Orleans.
But on Tuesday, FEMA refused to take reporters and photographers along on boats seeking victims in flooded areas, saying they would take up valuable space need in the recovery effort and asked them not to take pictures of the dead.
In an e-mail explaining the decision, a FEMA spokeswoman wrote: "The recovery of victims is being treated with dignity and the utmost respect and we have requested that no photographs of the deceased by made by the media."
Efforts to recover bodies continued on Wednesday. Out in the city's filthy waters, rescue teams tied bodies to trees or fences when they found them and noted the location for later recovery before carrying on in search of survivors.
Rebecca Daugherty of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press found this stance inexplicable.
"The notion that, when there's very little information from FEMA, that they would even spend the time to be concerned about whether the reporting effort is up to its standards of taste is simply mind-boggling," Daugherty said. "You cannot report on the disaster and give the public a realistic idea of how horrible it is if you don't see that there are bodies as well."
'INVITATION TO CHAOS'
FEMA's policy of excluding media from recovery expeditions in New Orleans is "an invitation to chaos," according to Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a part of Columbia University's journalism school. Continued ...
ok, so they show the pics of the dead which gives them, in their mind, more ammo to attack Bush..the dead deserve respect and don't need to have their bodies turned into a media circus...IMHO
"Looters found despoiling the dead were summarily executed by the militia - stood against the nearest wall or pile of debris and shot without the hindrance of a trial. The same brutal justice was delivered to amateur photographers. “Word received from Galveston today indicates that Kodak fiends are being shot down like thieves. Two, it is stated, were killed yesterday while taking pictures of nude female bodies.”— Dallas News, September 14, 1900.
The dead of Katrina need to be cared for properly, not to become photo fodder for those who want to see the gruesome details. What the media might actually do is show the 9-11 war scene of innocent American civilians who had the choice of dying from fire or dying from jumping.... which hopefully will accomplish the task of informing the public of why we are fighting terrorism. Otherwise, let the MSM keep their cameras on the the heroes of this Katrina tragedy and off those poor dead victims.
katrina heros..http://www.neworleansphotos.NET
Hey all you al-Reuters-Jazeera MSM, why don't you all just STFU! If you want to do some rigorous reporting why don't you start investigating the failures of Nagin and Blanco to develop and implement an adequate emergency plan, as well as the cesspool of the Demagogic Party and it's incompetent officals in NOLA and statewide LA??? Oh, excuse me, I guess that would not fit the AGENDA.
Let the press spend their own time and money getting into the floodzone.
Why waste FEMA resources on babysitting?
But the MSM are the ones who refused to show the pictures of the people jumping out of the windows of the WTC.
However, there are many, many people out there searching for their loved ones and don't have a clue what happened to them. Many are hoping and praying that their lost family members are safe and that a reunion will take place soon. Does a husband or wife, mother or father need to flip through the pages of Time or Newsweek and see a photo of the bloated, decomposing body of the person they are hoping beyond hope will turn up alive? This would be devastating way to learn such horrible news.
These media people dont respect anything, They sell papers ads on TV and pictures of Bodies sell papers/and make people watch TV.
Next of kin does not have to be put through the agony of seeing bloated, maggot infested bodies.
I thought I heard today that Gov. Blanco issued a gag order on the National Guard? Did anyone else hear this?
The MSM has NO SHAME, RESPECT for the dead, family members. What gives them the right to take pictures of someones family and show on TV, the might as well add, Globe or Enquire to the end of their name.
Someone here said it was reported on Fox yesterday I think it was BOR.
I am really sick of everyone taking advantage of the hurricane and other people's misery in order to make a name for themselves. What's going on in this country is really sickening.
Everyone is blaming somebody else for their problems. The people that live in hurricane alley simply chose to ignore the possibility of a powerfule hurricane destroying their city. Now that it has destroyed the city they blame the government for not taking care of them. Don't tell me nobody knew that a powerful hurricane could destroy the city. Especially when this city is below sea level. It's the same thing when people complain about the noise from airplanes and they live next door to an airport.
Abraham Lincoln was right. This country cannot be destroyed from the outside, but it will be destroyed from the inside.
Why do those in the media never put themselves in the place of family members of the victims? I know I would be pretty upset if some reporters decided to "win their pulitzer" by taking grotesque photos of my deceased family members.
Please, if I show up dead in a disaster and any of these guys want to take my picture, get them out of there!
Classless ghouls w/absolutely no respect for the dead or their families. And these are the ones who righteously assert the "right to privacy".
One poster came up with a story from the Galveston Storm a century ago to the effect that guys with Kodaks out taking pictures of the dead were shot on the spot.
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