Posted on 09/06/2005 10:29:23 PM PDT by HAL9000
NEW ORLEANS, Sept 6 (Reuters) - The U.S. government agency leading the rescue efforts after Hurricane Katrina said on Tuesday it does not want the news media to take photographs of the dead as they are recovered from the flooded New Orleans area.The Federal Emergency Management Agency, heavily criticized for its slow response to the devastation caused by the hurricane, rejected requests from journalists to accompany rescue boats as they went out to search for storm victims.
An agency spokeswoman said space was needed on the rescue boats and that "the recovery of the victims is being treated with dignity and the utmost respect."
"We have requested that no photographs of the deceased be made by the media," the spokeswoman said in an e-mailed response to a Reuters inquiry.
The Bush administration also has prevented the news media from photographing flag-draped caskets of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq, which has sparked criticism that the government is trying to block images that put the war in a bad light.
The White House is under fire for its handling of the relief effort, which many officials have charged was slow and bureacratic, contributing to the death and mayhem in New Orleans after the storm struck on Aug. 29.
Let's see if the leftist make a big deal to get these released like the military photos.
Naturally, no mention of the LA government's bumblings of past and present. Typical Reuters.
Good call, FEMA.
This is not a Spicoli operation with one guard, one celebrity, five photogs and no bilge plug.
Grrr...why don't they criticize idiot Blanco for sitting on her thumb for days before going to the feds for assistance, hmmm?
I've seen plenty of dead bodys on cnn's coverage in the last day or so.
You know they will. And they'll run HUGE versions of the images with the text "BUSH LIED, THEY DIED" on them.
Mark my words.
What do you mean "get the photos released"? They either take the pictures or they don't - if they take them, there isn't anything the government can do to stop them from being published. About the only thing they can do is refuse to cooperate with any news agency that publishes such photos.
I think seeing 40,000 dead bodies is way over the top...Glad FEMA stepped in.
40,000??? where are you coming up with that number?
What a wonderful way for the family to find out that their loved one is dead. Media scum.
Recover, notify next of kin, then bury/cremate. Respect. If the family wants to have the corpse on TV, then that is their call.
OK, I found an article with that figure - still, that seems unlikely to me.
I think seeing 40,000 dead bodies is way over the top...Glad FEMA stepped in.
I disagree. they should be show to anyone contemplating a public office with responsibility for lives and those that vote for them....
Photos or no photos, it won't make a difference. People see what they want to see in the reporting of this story.
It's a shame when the government has to remind the maggots in the DemocRATS' Liberal "media" that exploitation of the dead for political purposes is inhumane.
Unless they died in the past day or two, I doubt anyone would be recognizable. I have seen numerous bodies on the news, and in many cases it was hard to tell it was a human body.
Since when is the government in charge of what the media prints or does not print? Stupidity like this is what is giving this administration a bad name.
You give the Guardian too much credit. These guys understand about as much about the United States as they do Poland.
The US Government did a great job of pimping the casket photos as much as they could on defenselink until the casualty figures started getting too high. If they are so concerned about privacy, why did they have them up on a military site to begin with?
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