The Portland Metro Photographic News

By Tom Hubbard, PMPN, September 7, 2009

Marine, Lance Corporal Joshua Bernard, was struck by a rocket-propelled grenade in Afghanistan and was being treated by his fellow marines when an Associated Press (AP) photographer, Julie Jacobson, captured the drama with her camera.  It was a grisly scene with wounds that ultimately took the Corporal's life.  But it was also the story of a Marine hero and the courage of his comrades who tended his wounds while under heavy Taliban fire.

Joshua's father pleaded with AP not to release the picture.  Defense Secretary Robert Gates made a similar written request of the AP out of respect for the family's wishes.  The AP said it had a "journalistic duty to show the reality of war, however unpleasant and brutal that sometimes is."  And the picture and story was published.

It's a complex issue that the media faces daily.  I was with Time Inc. during the 911 terrorist attack on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon.  Among the thousands of pictures that Time and People magazines shot during the 3 days following the tragedy were hundreds of pictures of victims that the editors at Time Inc. decided were too traumatic for readers to see.  In this instance, because of the horrifying content and out of respect for the hundreds of families involved, these graphic images were excluded from both publications.

I understand both sides of the argument.  When does the media's responsibility to provide factual news and pictures that are critical to a citizenry's ability to make informed decisions supersede a family's (or country's) request for privacy? 

Whatever your personal opion, there are real American heroes making sacrifices for us in the name of freedom.  Maybe it takes shocking images to move the American public from apathy to action.

The Baltimore Sun's David Zurawik wrote an informative story about this most recent ethical dilemma in his on-line column.  Here is the press release issued by the Associated Press regarding the publication of this image.  Both articles make excellent reading and provide the background information needed for this week's PMPN Member Poll, "Should the Media publish pictures of dying soldiers?"  Log into the PMPN Member Lounge and let us know your opinion.

You may also post your own thoughts at the bottom of this article.  Let your opinions be known.