Censorship of the Dead
And then there is this.
Just as Americans aren't allowed to see photos of coffins coming back from Iraq, it appears we won't be allowed to see photos of the dead in New Orleans, even if they aren't identifiable.
That's us. "Land of the free."
Could we possibly dehumanize death any more?
Right now the most prominent images of people from the disaster are of the desperate, angry crowds at the convention center and Superdome, and of the looters. Images of the dead bodies floating in the water and lying abandoned on the streets do a heck of a lot more than words to explain the desperation and anger and some (though certainly not all) of the looting. Death is a huge part of this story, and we do our nation, those who died, and the survivors all a disservice by sanitizing the bodies out of the picture.
posted by OKPartisan @ 1:48 AM
3 Comments:
I suppose you would also include...
Just as the MSM chose to censor images of innocents plunging to their deaths by the dozens -- falling holding hands from the heights of the twin towers.
Why would the MSM self-censor THOSE images from 9/11, I wonder?
From Scappleface....
CNN Petitions to Dig Up Hastily-Buried Flood Victims
by Scott Ott
(2005-09-10) -- The Cable News Network (CNN), fresh from a legal triumph allowing it to televise the recovery of dead flood victims, today asked a federal judge to allow it to dig up and videotape any bodies buried in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
"While we were petitioning the court to cover the recovery of corpses, some victims were hastily buried," said an unnamed CNN spokesman. "Our viewers have a right to see the decaying flesh of each and every citizen who perished from lack of federal government assistance. That's why the First Amendment exists."
The network source said news anchors will issue the following warning before each 'CNN Cadaver Closeup' segment:
"Caution: the following report includes disgustingly graphic depictions of rotting human flesh. If you can possibly look away from your TV set, do so now...especially if you have any relatives in the South that you haven't heard from since Hurricane Katrina hit."
I understand the points you are trying to make, and I think that any images need to certainly not identify the victims. I also understand that clothing and other belongings may be just as identifying as a face.
After 9/11 we did, in fact, see bodies. There were countless times in which all the news networks showed flag-draped stretchers emerging from the ruins, passing by somber rows of rescue and recovery workers. I did not relish seeing those events, but they were inextricably linked to the disaster. I believe those images helped our nation comprehend the almost incomprehensible tragedy and horror of 9/11. They helped us see that site as holy ground instead of some strange construction site.
To show the people jumping from the twin towers would have been totally inappropriate, akin to watching snuff films. That would be like watching people in New Orleans drown, or take their last gasping breaths. Of course I wouldn't support that, and I don't think that's what CNN wants either.
There has to be a balance between white-washing death out of the picture and using the images as cheap horror show tricks to entice twisted rubbernecking viewers. It's a matter of respecting the dead, of respecting the loss felt by their family and friends, and of truly understanding the nature of what has happened.
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