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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us May 31, 2005 War photos are an essential part of the story Recently, the Los Angeles Times reviewed six months of war coverage in Iraq — from September 2004 to February 2005 — attempting to judge how the war was depicted in photographs. The time period included the U.S. assault on Fallujah and the escalating insurgent attacks prior to the January elections. The Times found that despite the casualties incurred by both American troops and civilians, there were almost no pictures of Americans killed in action and relatively few photos of any wounded to be found in the six prominent papers surveyed. To date, 1,797 U.S. service members and their allies have been killed in Iraq. Also, 12,516 Americans have been wounded, some horribly. Many photojournalists believe that America is being given a muted view of what those numbers truly mean. Some argue that to publish a photo of a dead G.I. (even if the face is obscured) hurts morale, gives aid to the enemy, and subjects families to even greater suffering. Others believe journalists are there to create an objective record of events as they happen. Part of that record are the photos that illustrate the price that war exacts from our soldiers and the civilian population. To do any less is an abdication of the responsibility of their role as news professionals. Chris Hondros, a veteran war photographer whose images are distributed by Getty Images, stated, “There can be horrible images, but war is horrible and we need to understand that. I think if we are going to start a war, we ought to be willing to show the consequences of that war.” Clearly, the Pentagon does not agree. Recall when the military and the White House banned photographs of flag-draped coffins being delivered to the United States. The argument was that to show the images would be a violation of the privacy of the families of the dead. The attempt to shield the American public from the images of war also extends to American television. A George Washington University survey of nearly 2,000 TV news segments revealed that the war has been decidedly sanitized. While the announcer will state that troops were killed or wounded by a roadside bomb, the images will invariably be of a burning humvee or truck. The human wreckage will never be shown, meaning that an essential truth has been circumvented. To show images of war is the mandate of journalism — print or electronic. To do any less is to betray our mission as reporters. If our nation is to make informed decisions about this war, or any war, then we must have all the facts, regardless of how it might affect our sensibilities. Pictures when done with the same ethic of professional balance that is the credo of journalism at its core, they are a powerful and important means of telling the story. The press must not be timid in using such photos responsibly. If we, as journalists, edit out the harsh realities of war, then we are complicit in the administration’s propaganda effort. The public has a right to know what is done in their name. We who report the news, can and should do better in bringing them the story, as hard as that may be. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Online Pharmacy Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations Hammocks Water Filter Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams