WHAT HEELS: AP Distributes Photo Of Dying Marine After Over Grieving Father’s Objections
Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates criticized the Associated Press for an "appalling" lack of compassion for distributing a photograph of the mortally wounded Lance Cpl. Joshua M. Bernard over the objections of the Marine's father, reports The Washington Post:
The AP defended its decision, saying in an article that it released the photo to convey "the grimness of war and the sacrifice of young men and women fighting it."
The photograph shows [the Marine] shortly after he was severely wounded by a rocket-propelled grenade during a Taliban ambush in southern
The distribution of the photograph did not appear to violate any
Instead, it raised a moral dilemma over whether to respect the wishes of Bernard's father to withhold from public view the intensely personal image or to publicize it in the interest of revealing the profound pain of war to more Americans.
Gates personally called AP’s chief executive Thomas Curley to "beg” the news organization to “defer to the wishes of the family,” but to no avail. AP insisted on disseminating the photo to show that - flash from the newsroom - war is hell. After the photo was distributed to papers and news Websites worldwide, Gates followed up with a letter slamming Curley slamming him: "Your lack of compassion and common sense in choosing to put this image of their maimed and stricken child on the front pages of multiple American newspapers is appalling."
Many papers chose not to publish the image, reports Editor & Publisher. For its part, the WaPo did not publish the photo in its paper edition, but did include it in a slideshow on its Web site.
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