The Images Are Getting Darker (WashPost Ombudsman)

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A11271-2004May8?language=printer

The Images Are Getting Darker

By Michael Getler

Sunday, May 9, 2004; Page B06

(snip)

In the aftermath of that photo's appearance, several callers said, essentially, enough already. "We are trying to cope with what has happened," one said, "and you're still firing bullets" in the form of more photos. "How much shame do we need to feel?" asked another. "We are being beaten down. No more photos. We understand." Another asked why the humiliated prisoner's face had not been blocked out in the photo.

In other cases, callers and e-mailers seemed to react along political lines, which is frequently the case these days. Some said they were furious at The Post; they argued that all these pictures were "doing damage to the country and the military," were stirring up "Muslim anger at America," and were showing that "the elite media hated President Bush."

I don't agree. The reality of war in all its aspects needs to be reported and photographed. That is the patriotic, and necessary, thing to do in a democracy.

(snip)

The Post has played a leading role in covering this story in the aftermath of the CBS broadcast, yet it did indeed seem to hesitate to put the story on the front page. The April 30 story had details exclusive to The Post and carried two of the most shocking images shown by CBS. Yet it was placed on Page A24, and the only clue on the front page was a one-line reference that said, "Iraqi prison gets new commander as part of probe," which some readers said was so casual as to be misleading.

I do not, at this point, have answers to why The Post was slow off the mark on this story other than points I have raised in other columns. One is that war, including the period before it starts, requires alertness at all times and to all angles of the news. That's a high hurdle, but there is no bigger story. The other is that there needs to be timelier investigative reporting. The clues were there four months earlier, on the public record, and they were put there by the military.

© 2004 The Washington Post Company


If you follow these ombudsman articles you will see that the Washington Post has a well established pattern of "burying" (relatively) the bad news from Iraq, and against shrubco in general, deeper from the front page.

[peacetalksforall]

1. No images of bodies coming home and few of the maimed

And they tried to suppress these torture images.


We have a -
Secret agenda that we, the citizens, had to dissect.
They want to make secret the execution of the agenda.
But they got caught.
Still, some people still buy the con game.

[cliss]

2. The Pentagon has discovered it's really hard

to cover the photos and the video. Like a ghastly monster. There's something lurking in the background. Rumsfeld warned the world: "be on notice. There's much worse on the way". The Pentagon tries frantically to contain it. They've locked up a few, but there's still more out there.

And they are completely helpless. For now, the release of the video is in the hands of whoever has it. He will release it at the time of his own choosing. In the meantime, Rummy knows his number's up when it does "premiere".

It's like a mirage in the desert. Ever seen one of those? You look up, and in the searing heat you see some foothills. They look close. After an hour of driving, they are no closer to you than they were.

That's what the Pentagon is dealing with right now. They know the photos have slipped through their fingers. They can't contain it.

Done in by kids. 21-year old GI's. How does that feel, Rummy?

[Karenina]

3. That he labeled "fungible" resource.

Yee-Haw!!! Bringumon!!!

I've said this before and I'll say it again. These *CRIMINALS are no match for our kids. They are IT savvy and there ARE enough of them who are NOT STUPID. Their LIVES are on the line.

Yee-Haw!!!

[ColdWarZoomie]

4. Done in by Kids

"Done in by kids. 21-year old GI's. How does that feel, Rummy?"

You bring up a point that I'm sure many vets were thinking before the war - US foreign policy is not implemented by the brainiacs and policy wonks inside the Beltway, but rather by 19 year olds with barely a high school education and virtually no life experience.

I was one of them in the 1980s. And looking back I'm still amazed that this country is protected by 19 and 20 somethings like I was who drink too much and basically think of nothing more than partying and getting laid.

Of course, none of these knuckleheads running the country served. They're clueless.

[The Zanti Regent]

5. Getler lies for the GOP

He has always lied for the Republicans and will continue to do so.

Nobody who reads Buzzflash believes anything in the Whoreshington Post