Our Voice
Since 1991, during the Persian Gulf War, photojournalists have been forbidden by the government to take photographs that ought to be shown to the world. There is more emotion and impact in a single photograph of the coffins being unloaded from ships and planes than a well-written article and a list of names of the same fallen soldiers. As a generation accustomed to consuming news and culture visually, a single photograph would reach a much broader audience than even the most well-written article would.
It is also the right of the American people to see the true cost of war. When the media only shows photos of smiling soldiers with their families about to ship off to protect the nation, it gives the viewer a different feeling than the same soldiers’ corpse returning to our fair country. Though we believe showing “happier” photos of soldiers boosts moral for war at home. We do not think that spinning a war in that way is fair and unbiased. Instead, print both. Show both sides of the story.
Currently, the families of the soldiers still hold the right to decline photographs of their soldiers.
All media outlets should be allowed to take photos and videos of returning coffins and publish them on any outlet they see fit with or without family consent. Though families may feel that publishing photos of their dead loved ones might be an invasion of their privacy, it is also the right of the American people to know and see the results of war.
Unfortunately, the truth is that soldiers die overseas everyday, so why should the government be allowed to ban the photographic proof of such? The answer is that they shouldn’t. The job of a photojournalist is to photograph the world’s happenings as accurately and truthfully as possible, and the government should not interfere with this process.
Posted by Colonnade Archives
on Mar 13 2009. Filed under Our Voice.
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