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AP Made Right Decision to Run Marine's Photo

We need to see the war

By Harry Kimball,  Newser Staff

Posted Sep 9, 2009 4:35 PM CDT
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(Newser) – The AP made the correct call in running a photo of a mortally wounded Marine, writes David Harsanyi in the Denver Post. “If I could recall a wanton penchant of the press to run photos of dead Marines, my reaction might have been very different,” he writes. But he can't, and charges that image “exploit the tragic death of a true American hero”— in the words of Sarah Palin, for one—ring hollow. “The pictures unquestionably added humanity and context to (Joshua) Bernard's death.”

“It is unfathomable to imagine the anguish the Bernard family must feel” after the photos were released against their wishes, Harsanyi writes. But “the awful reality remains. As cruel as it sounds, those concerns should not guide the journalist's decision-making process.” In fact, “at the risk of dropping a massive cliche on readers,” Harsanyi writes, “the troops exist to defend things like the First Amendment, as ugly as they may find the results.”

Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Bernard of Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines an hour before his death.
Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua Bernard of Golf Company, 2nd Battalion, 3rd Marines an hour before his death.   (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
Marine Cpl. Braxton Russell pays his respects to Lance Cpl. Joshua Bernard during a memorial service at a forward operating base.
Marine Cpl. Braxton Russell pays his respects to Lance Cpl. Joshua Bernard during a memorial service at a forward operating base.   (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
This undated photo shows Associated Press photographer Julie Jacobson, center, standing with unidentified members of the Afghan National Army.
This undated photo shows Associated Press photographer Julie Jacobson, center, standing with unidentified members of the Afghan National Army.   (AP Photo/Julie Jacobson)
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On the debate over the substance of these pictures, the press has one overriding question to ask: Do the photos help citizens better understand the story of the war in Afghanistan? Obviously, they do. - David Harsanyi

It is, despite the anger surrounding the AP's decision, the job of the press to offer citizens a glimpse—albeit slight, in this case—of the war they cover. - David Harsanyi

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COMMENTS
Showing 3 of 13 comments
thejoint00
Sep 25, 2009 4:29 AM CDT
yea too much gore will remind me of the video of the soldier who has his head sawed off with a machete and make me want to band together with my neighbors to stand up against the MoFos that are slaughtering my countrymen
thejoint00
Sep 25, 2009 4:25 AM CDT
@R64481089- thank you for serving my country.
IndependentThinker
Sep 10, 2009 10:58 AM CDT
@Reader: The only way your going to get help for the guys in the VA and prevent more from going there is by exposing what happens in way. When we stick our heads in the ground on subjects like this there is no progress in the wrongs it creates. How did we get out of Nam? By exposing it, reporting the deaths, showing pictures of the dying, really letting the American people know what was going on. I am sorry that it happened, but it did, that is reality. Nothing anyone can do can change that BUT it can be prevented from happening to the next guy.

Jacobson narrates a slideshow of her photos from the firefight
Associated Press

 
US military • First Amendment • freedom of press • Associated Press • Marine • Afghanistan war • photojournalism • Marine Corps • Joshua Bernard • Julie Jacobson

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