NPR joins AP in demanding visual proof of Osama bin Laden’s death

[Playinghardball]

Source: Raw Story
By Stephen C. Webster

Shortly after the White House announced that it had conducted an operation that killed terrorist leader Osama bin Laden, news organizations began clammoring for visual proof. The Associated Press, Politico and Fox News were among them, along with a host of advocacy groups.

Yesterday, National Public Radio (NPR) said it was joining the demand to see evidence of bin Laden's death, filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the White House.

"Pictures of Osama bin Laden and other images from that mission would have compelling news value and public interest," Dick Meyer, NPR's executive editor for news, explained in a post to NPR's news blog The Two-Way.

The matter is likely to be decided by the courts, according to activists with the First Amendment Center

More at: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/05/11/npr-joins-ap-in-demanding-visual-proof-of-osama-bin-ladens-death/

[Avant Guardian]

1. The 'Jerry Springer' wing of US politics demands fodder!!

[lillypaddle]

2. Really.

Fuck them.

[AlabamaLibrul]

13. Fuck the AP and NPR? nt

[Avant Guardian]

38. Yes, fuck AP and NPR

I remember when news was news.

[Trajan]

3. While I would normally agree with the premise

There are times when discretion is advised ... this is one of those times ...

Kinda like yelling 'FIRE!' in a crowded theater ...

[former9thward]

9. How are these photos different than the Abu Ghraib abuse photos?

Those were pretty inflammatory and the military said there would be repercussions against troops. Yet the press demanded the release.

[Trajan]

14. Perhaps they are different ...

And I did not request they be released .... It is important to know what happened at Abu Ghraib, and that the perpetrators of these obvious crimes be prosecuted ...

I am pretty sure this is a different kind of situation ..... Can we say that all photos are exactly alike ? .... That all situations are exactly alike ?

Hmmm ....

[former9thward]

16. I don't think either set of photos should be released.

I think both events are inflammatory. Nothing needed to be released for prosecution. Most crime scene photos are never released but that does not stop them from being used in court.

[Trajan]

20. I agree with that ....

It was important that Abu Ghraib be prosecuted, but releasing the photos was NOT necessary ... Even if it did open some closed American eyes ....

[guruoo]

24. Differance is in crime committed v justice served, IMO. nt

[Riftaxe]

25. or when there is nothing on the tapes?

R. Nixon...

[Brickbat]

4. As they should.

[rurallib]

5. I get the feeling that NPR is trying to prove its bona fides

to the tea party in hopes that the Repugs will back down on their threat to cut off funding.

[Leopolds Ghost]

28. You think this is a tea party issue? Sad...

If Obama had been president during Abu Ghraib, would all you folks be accusing people of treason for releasing the Abu Ghraib photos?

Given Obama's attitude toward prosecuting whistleblowers and accusing them of treason (like my dad who spent the last years of his life working on the landmark defraudment of Indian tribes of $6 Billion in federally-administered oil royalties by MMS) I wouldn't be surprised.

[rurallib]

39. for me I think it is an NPR issue.

[Modern_Matthew]

6. While I don't care about seeing the images myself...release them for the few that do.

Our interventionist foreign policy is what created our enemies and will continue to create enemies. A couple of photos might create a few strongly worded message board posts and outcries from people who generally don't matter, but I sincerely doubt there will be any type of violent retaliation for this action alone. We do enough to be hated without the photos.

[Junkdrawer]

7. Careful: Keep asking for "Proof" and you'll become a Truther....

Then reeducation will be your only option. Best to stay well within the prescribed limits of debate.

[guruoo]

8. I question the motives here, since photos wouldn't provide any definitive proof of identity. nt

[EFerrari]

11. The default in a free society should be transparency, not occlusion. n/t

[guruoo]

22. In a perfect world. nt

[EFerrari]

23. Baloney. When did we because so challenged that we can't even

consider freedom of information because this isn't a "perfect world"?

[guruoo]

26. So, you believe government should release everything, no exceptions. nt

[Dreamer Tatum]

27. Hey, that's what the legions of Wikileaks supporters think

and DU has its fair share of those.

[Leopolds Ghost]

29. Guilt by association AND defamation of whistleblowers in one sentence... wow.

[Dreamer Tatum]

30. Boo fuggidy hoo nt

[Leopolds Ghost]

32. Do you see me crying? Stop defaming whistleblowers if you want me to believe you're a liberal.

[Dreamer Tatum]

33. So EVERY SINGLE DOCUMENT at Wikileaks is related to whistleblowing?

I doubt that.

If you support Wikileaks, then you should support the release of whatever info we have on bin Laden, period, paragraph.

[EFerrari]

35. LOL. Yes, freedom of information is so, so fringe.

:)

[EFerrari]

34. So, you believe that some higher authority needs to decide for you

what information you can and cannot have?

[guruoo]

37. You first...

you believe government should release everything, no exceptions?

[Romulox]

10. The President knows damn well that he'll have to release some proof.

This looks like another round of "rope a dope" to me.

[sharp_stick]

12. Gore Porn

No other real reason to see them other than a weird fascination to rubberneck in hopes of seeing a guy whose head was blown apart by a high velocity bullet.

[Drale]

15. They are trying to drum up ratings

Its all about the ratings. Why do you think they covered the Charlie Sheen train wreck?

[no_hypocrisy]

17. OK, NPR. Here it is. I'm sending it to you. Now let's talk about something else.

[gratuitous]

18. I want to see what I paid for

I don't need proof that bin Laden's dead (because if he wasn't, this would be just about the stupidest lie anyone could ever tell). But I do think that as a U.S. taxpayer I'm entitled to see what I paid for. The excuses proffered by the military are pretty lame and don't stand up to much scrutiny or analysis. The very fact that photos and videos exist, once that fact was out there, necessitates that they be published. It is a bit surprising that the administration would think otherwise.

[malaise]

19. Have they received Dick Cheney's records yet?

:puke:

[Leopolds Ghost]

31. Why are the bulk of people attacking NPR when they finally do something "liberals" would do?

Oh, I forgot, liberalism died in the 90s before many bloggers today were even old enough to know politics.

[aikoaiko]

21. I support the President and I support NPR and other news agencies

Both have different obligations and the courts can figure it out if the parties involved cannot.

[readmoreoften]

36. They're all just crazy conspiracy theorists who hate Obama!