[Peace-discuss] Common decency

[C. G. Estabrook]

[It's becoming regrettably clear that the press will have to be curbed, if it 
can't curb itself...  "Circus dogs jump when the trainer cracks his whip, but 
the really well-trained dog is the one that turns his somersault when there is 
no whip" (Geo. Orwell 1944).]

	September 04 2009
	Gates: AP decision 'appalling'
	By Mike Allen
	Politico

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is objecting “in the strongest terms” to an 
Associated Press decision to transmit a photograph showing a mortally wounded 
21-year-old Marine in his final moments of life, calling the decision 
“appalling” and a breach of “common decency.”

The AP reported that the Marine’s father had asked -- in an interview and in a 
follow-up phone call -- that the image, taken by an embedded photographer, not 
be published.

The photo shows Lance Cpl. Joshua M. Bernard of New Portland, Maine, who was 
struck by a rocket-propelled grenade in a Taliban ambush Aug. 14 in Helmand 
province of southern Afghanistan, according to The AP.

Gates wrote to Thomas Curley, AP’s president and chief executive officer. “Out 
of respect for his family’s wishes, I ask you in the strongest of terms to 
reconsider your decision. I do not make this request lightly. In one of my first 
public statements as Secretary of Defense, I stated that the media should not be 
treated as the enemy, and made it a point to thank journalists for revealing 
problems that need to be fixed – as was the case with Walter Reed. …

“I cannot imagine the pain and suffering Lance Corporal Bernard’s death has 
caused his family. Why your organization would purposefully defy the family’s 
wishes knowing full well that it will lead to yet more anguish is beyond me. 
Your lack of compassion and common sense in choosing to put this image of their 
maimed and stricken child on the front page of multiple American newspapers is 
appalling. The issue here is not law, policy or constitutional right – but 
judgment and common decency.”

The four-paragraph letter concluded, “Sincerely,” then had Gates’ signature.

The Associated Press reported in a story about deliberations about that photo 
that “after a period of reflection,” the news service decided “to make public an 
image that conveys the grimness of war and the sacrifice of young men and women 
fighting it.

“The image shows fellow Marines helping Bernard after he suffered severe leg 
injuries. He was evacuated to a field hospital where he died on the operating 
table,” AP said. “The picture was taken by Associated Press photographer Julie 
Jacobson, who accompanied Marines on the patrol and was in the midst of the 
ambush during which Bernard was wounded. … ‘AP journalists document world events 
every day. Afghanistan is no exception. We feel it is our journalistic duty to 
show the reality of the war there, however unpleasant and brutal that sometimes 
is,’ said Santiago Lyon, the director of photography for AP.

“He said Bernard's death shows ‘his sacrifice for his country. Our story and 
photos report on him and his last hours respectfully and in accordance with 
military regulations surrounding journalists embedded with U.S. forces.’”

The AP reported that it “waited until after Bernard's burial in Madison, Maine, 
on Aug. 24 to distribute its story and the pictures.”

“An AP reporter met with his parents, allowing them to see the images,” the 
article says. “Bernard's father after seeing the image of his mortally wounded 
son said he opposed its publication, saying it was disrespectful to his son's 
memory. John Bernard reiterated his viewpoint in a telephone call to the AP on 
Wednesday. ‘We understand Mr. Bernard's anguish. We believe this image is part 
of the history of this war.
The story and photos are in themselves a respectful treatment and recognition of 
sacrifice,’ said AP senior managing editor John Daniszewski.

“Thursday afternoon, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates called AP President Tom 
Curley asking that the news organization respect the wishes of Bernard's father 
and not publish the photo. Curley and AP Executive Editor Kathleen Carroll said 
they understood this was a painful issue for Bernard's family and that they were 
sure that factor was being considered by the editors deciding whether or not to 
publish the photo, just as it had been for the AP editors who decided to 
distribute it.”

The image was part of a package of stories and photos released for publication 
after midnight Friday. The project, called “AP Impact – Afghan – Death of a 
Marine,” carried a dateline of Dahaneh, Afghanistan, and was written by Alfred 
de Montesquiou and Julie Jacobson:

“The U.S. patrol had a tip that Taliban fighters were lying in ambush in a 
pomegranate grove, and a Marine trained his weapon on the trees. Seconds later, 
a salvo of gunfire and rocket-propelled grenades poured out, and a grenade hit 
Lance Cpl. Joshua ‘Bernie’ Bernard. The Marine was about to become the next 
fatality in the deadliest month of the deadliest year of the Afghan war.”

The news service also moved extensive journal entries AP photographer Julie 
Jacobson wrote while in Afghanistan. AP said in an advisory: “From the reporting 
of Alfred de Montesquiou, the photos and written journal kept by Julie Jacobson, 
and the TV images of cameraman Ken Teh, the AP has compiled ‘Death of a Marine,’ 
a 1,700 word narrative of the clash, offering vivid insights into how the battle 
was fought, and into Bernard's character and background. It also includes an 
interview with his father, an ex-Marine, who three weeks earlier had written 
letters complaining that the military's rules of engagement are exposing the 
troops in Afghanistan to undue risk.”

Source: Politico