Apparently the First Amendment of the US Constitution doesn't count anymore. The fact is they do no want the public to witness the horror of their bothed job.

 

Link

NEW YORK Forced to defend what some critics consider its slow and botched response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said on Tuesday it does not want the news media to take photographs of the dead as they are recovered from New Orleans.

 

FEMA, which is leading the rescue efforts, rejected requests from journalists to accompany rescue boats as they went out to search for storm victims, Reuters reported Tuesday.

The press does not have the right to have photographs of the dead without the permission of the families. First Amendment doesn't cover the rights issue.

i think if the bodies are in public areas then they can be photographed & published

 

i know that some papers out here (and in places I've lived) have published photos of dead bodies ... a recent one was a kid who died in an auto wreck, his family was peeved, but could do nothing

 

personally I think it is a bad taste form of profiteering

i think if the bodies are in public areas then they can be photographed & published

 

i know that some papers out here (and in places I've lived) have published photos of dead bodies ... a recent one was a kid who died in an auto wreck, his family was peeved, but could do nothing

 

personally I think it is a bad taste form of profiteering

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Depends on the state, some states require families to approve before the use. I think FEMA made a good move and not allowing the photographing. Do you want to see dead bodies of those who drowned in your newspaper? FEMA had nothing to do with the drownings, so the claim that FEMA is trying to cover-up makes no sense.

 

I give FEMA a :thumbup for preserving the privacy and rights of the families who do not need their relatives splashed on the front pages of America's newspapers.

I give FEMA a for preserving the privacy and rights of the families who do not need their relatives splashed on the front pages of America's newspapers.

 

I would really like to agree with that sentiment, but I can't. Frankly the US govt doesn't want the world to see the US looking like a Third World country. Foreign coverage of the whole story has been much more realistic in conveying the tragedy than the sanitised news that's been 'allowed' to air here.

what a shocker, more coverup and destruction of rights granted in the bill of rights.

 

 

color me shocked.

I wouldn't want the public to see the deadly results of my screw up if I was FEMA either, so hey no surprise here.

I don't think the bodies should be shown just because no one wants to have the nation to see them dead. The problem is that FEMA has other reasons.

If FEMA is trying to 'cover up' (for what?) like some of you say I don't know and don't really care. I agree with Cape though, it is in very poor taste to photograph the dead for the newspapers. I wouldn't want to see a dead relative of mine in the news. The people involved in the tragedy don't want to see that, and the people not involved don't need to see it.

Yea, I think if the US didnt want us looking like a 3rd world country, they wouldn't allow any of the photos that have been shown (ie - people standing on roofs, etc.).

 

I just think it should be out of respect to the dead and their families that those pictures aren't shown. We've got enough pictures of the destruction, show those instead.

Publishing pictures of bodies that have been floating around in the water for a week?

 

I can't believe the number of people on here that think there is nothing wrong with that. Show the dead a little respect. The numbers will tell the story just as well as a picture that disrespects lost souls, and torments grieving families.

If you don't want the pictures published, how about you clean up the bodies like you're supposed to.

its probably classless to publish those photos.

 

 

but if any publication wants to show the lack of class in that respect then they should be allowed to.

its probably classless to publish those photos.

 

 

but if any publication wants to show the lack of class in that respect then they should be allowed to.

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Yep.

 

Not saying that publishing dead bodies shows class or anything, but you have the right to do so, especially if they are out in public and the FEMA folks or whoever is responsible for cleaning them up isn't doing so.

 

And besides, class?? This is American journalism, which knows nothing about class.

If you don't want the pictures published, how about you clean up the bodies like you're supposed to.

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I'll assume you mean picking up the corpses at an earlier time.

 

The early search and rescue ventures into the flooded areas were to rescue those that were trapped. While I would have liked seeing the dead recovered, at that point you are trying to save those that still have a chance. They needed all the room they could get for the living.

 

We already know that every level of government screwed up in a major way during this ordeal. There have been plenty of stories and pictures to back it up, I just don't think pictures of the dead are what is needed to tell the story.

I don't like the idea of putting pictures of dead people in newspapers and magazines either. I have more of a problem, however, with a government telling a private agency that they can't do something which they clearly clan if they want to. Is it ethical? No, but being unethical is not against the law.

 

Of course the earliest missions were for search and rescue, and we all know about the federal, state, and local screwups. But it still remains that the bodies shouldn't be there, and again if a newspaper wants to show them that's their perogative. It's not ethical, but it's not the government's job to decide what ethical is.

I guess I agree with you guys that they shouldn't be blocked by the government. But if I was in the streets of NO and I caught a journalist taking pictures of decaying bodies I'd kick his ass, make things right like they used to back in the day. (I'm currently reading Killing Mr. Watson...great book)

The easiest way is to keep the photographers off the recovery vehicles. They are under no legal obligation to take them along if they are not officially part of the recovery crew. They'll be able to take photographs of body bags being taken off the boats when they return to the staging area, but unless they are an official crew, they are not authorized to be there as the bodies are recovered..

I wouldn't PERSONALLY want to see those pictures.

 

But, getting a video and setting it to Thriller? Bad-ass.

I wouldn't PERSONALLY want to see those pictures.

 

But, getting a video and setting it to Thriller? Bad-ass.

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Buckeye strikes again!

I wouldn't PERSONALLY want to see those pictures.

 

But, getting a video and setting it to Thriller?? Bad-ass.

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Buckeye strikes again!

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OMGSOOFFENDEDSTOPSPOSTING!

I give FEMA a for preserving the privacy and rights of the families who do not need their relatives splashed on the front pages of America's newspapers.

 

I would really like to agree with that sentiment, but I can't. Frankly the US govt doesn't want the world to see the US looking like a Third World country. Foreign coverage of the whole story has been much more realistic in conveying the tragedy than the sanitised news that's been 'allowed' to air here.

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I don't know why anyone would want to see photos of corpses, but for those of you who want to see the goods, here are a few links (warning: some are very graphic!):

 

link 1

link 2

link 3

link 4

I give FEMA a? for preserving the privacy and rights of the families who do not need their relatives splashed on the front pages of America's newspapers.

 

I would really like to agree with that sentiment, but I can't. Frankly the US govt doesn't want the world to see the US looking like a Third World country. Foreign coverage of the whole story has been much more realistic in conveying the tragedy than the sanitised news that's been 'allowed' to air here.

933705[/snapback]

I don't know why anyone would want to see photos of corpses, but for those of you who want to see the goods, here are a few links (warning: some are very graphic!):

 

link 1

link 2

link 3

link 4

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Wow. I mean, WOW!

 

Dood. I give you mad props for posting that. MAD PROPS. I just... I'm speechless.

 

WOW.

 

*I clicked. I'm now going to have nightmares*