thanks to Musket for the photo.
Posted on 09/10/2005 7:32:40 AM PDT by STARWISE
THE US military is to bar journalists and photographers from documenting the recovery of bodies left on the streets of New Orleans by hurricane Katrina.
Lieutenant-General Russel Honore, the commander of the relief operation, said on Friday that while the military had allowed reporters covering the catastrophe free rein, it was now slamming the door shut out of respect for the possibly thousands of victims and their families.
"We've had total access to everything we've done — the good, the bad and the ugly — but that operation (the recovery of corpses) will be conducted with dignity and respect for the families," the general said.
"There will be zero access to that operation. It would not be good to have pictures of people, the deceased, shown on any media."
Lieutenant-General Honore called for published pictures of corpses to be removed from websites.
As the water is slowly drained by pumps — and more bodies are revealed — journalists will be restricted from entering the parts of the city that have been submerged.
(Excerpt) Read more at theage.com.au ...
Excellent decision! Lots of precedences for this.
Leadership PING!
thanks to Musket for the photo.
Amen. The media vultures shouldn't be provided with corpses to pick over.
None of which means he isn't a great field commander. It's just that some guys aren't made for the spotlight.
The Coast Guard vice admiral is the guy you want for your front man.
...waiting for the MSM to turn on LTG Honor'e any minute now...
I'll take Honore ANY day ... thank God for him.
LOL!!!!!!
Oh, we'll see the press fight for their rights
(to publish photos of the dead)
because after all, it's George Bush's fault!
/sarc
I wouldn't object to media presence on these missions, as long as there were no cameras. That way nobody can accuse anybody of covering things up and decency is preserved.
But if Lt. Gen. Honore says no media, the only thing you can say to him is, "Yes, sir!" That man doesn't take any guff from anyone.
On the CNN website
Judge supports CNN request to cover Katrina's toll
Saturday, September 10, 2005; Posted: 1:33 a.m. EDT (05:33 GMT)
HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- At the request of CNN, a federal judge in Texas Friday night blocked emergency officials in New Orleans from preventing the media from covering the recovery of bodies from Hurricane Katrina.
Attorneys for the network argued that the ban was an unconstitutional prior restraint on news gathering.
.......................................G.O.O.D..........................................
This nation doesn't need to watch the MSM showing only pix of blacks, with commentary about how Bush is at fault.
Which precedents are you thinking of?
During WWII, I believe that up until Tarawa that we didn't allow war correspondents to freely publish pictures of the dead, but I believe that from Tarawa onward that we allowed such pictures of dead soldiers.
Otherwise, I cannot think of any such restriction on the press, but the history of journalistic photography is not a part of history that I spend a lot of time on, so perhaps such restrictions were more common than I thought?
After the Galveston storm of 1900, "Kodak fiends" were treated like looters and summarily shot.
To paraphrase an oldy, 'Only the Media walks in where even ghouls fear to tread.'
How ridiculous plus also those taling heads at CNN who want to have the photos are not the ones that will have to take them exposing themselves to possible disease and mental horrors. I suspect a lot of the photographers on the ground in NO are not keen on participating.
A "state of emergency" is in effect. The situation is no longer under the jurisdiction of the judge.
I also wonder if this "judge" has anything to say about the unconstitutional confiscation of firearms from law-abing citizens defending their homes from looters and thugs.
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