Slog - Comments on A Picture Is Worth... http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth ...not a fuck of a lot, actually, when the media "protects" you from it. Richard Blair blogging at the All Spin Zone noticed a strange sentence in this story from Sunday's edition of the Washington Post. Capturing images of war on their digital cameras, as many troops in Iraq have done, Marines took dozens of gruesome photographs of the 24 civilians who were killed in Haditha, Iraq, in November 2005... Among the images, there is a young boy with a picture of a helicopter on his pajamas, slumped over, his face and head covered in blood. There is a mother... Copyright 2008 Mon, 08 Jan 2007 12:43:51 -0800 Tue, 09 Jan 2007 14:19:14 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by bobo It looks like this Administration and its oil industry pals accomplished exactly what they'd hoped to by initiating this war.
They're taking control of the oil.

Future of Iraq: The spoils of war [Independent]
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2132569.ece


]]> bobo http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585453 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585453 Media Mon, 08 Jan 2007 13:06:02 -0800 Comment by AnthonyW. The images aren't published because no one wants to see them. The unpleasant reality of it is that we live in a society that has scrubbed all unpleasant images, thoughts, voices, and et cetera from any public exposure. The skewed perspective on the seemingly eternal struggle to be consistently politically correct; or to shield the public from offensive materials. A modern utopia where the many are "protected'" by the few. If we can't see them then we can sleep easy with our conscience, finish our day to day, and continue living our lives without being confronted. Demonstration in action? Why does anything about Lindsay Lohan warrant more attention from the slog readers (if you're looking at comments). Thats a hell of an editorial call on their part, and I'm probably not the only one when I say that it wasn't the right one.

]]> AnthonyW. http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585475 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585475 Media Mon, 08 Jan 2007 13:31:12 -0800 Comment by treacle Can the Stranger find these horrid images and publish them? Or Slog some links to these soldier's flickr accounts?

]]> treacle http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585481 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585481 Media Mon, 08 Jan 2007 13:38:07 -0800 Comment by Gitai It's not necessary for the Post to publish them. Soldiers are posting pictures of their kills on personal websites. Anyone with google and a half hour will find these pictures.

]]> Gitai http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585487 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585487 Media Mon, 08 Jan 2007 13:40:13 -0800 Comment by monkey I personally don't WANT to see these images but I feel like I SHOULD see these images. If we don't see the results of our actions we won't be outraged and if we aren't outraged we won't care.

]]> monkey http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585495 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585495 Media Mon, 08 Jan 2007 13:51:05 -0800 Comment by Jonathan Thank you, Dan.

]]> Jonathan http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585526 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585526 Media Mon, 08 Jan 2007 14:34:53 -0800 Comment by him I mostly agree with Gitai. There's some nasty and disturbing pictures on the web, so if you want to see them, you can. The trouble is, most people don't bother looking for them, and "ignorance is bliss." Putting them in the papers forces you to confront those issues (much like the Abu Ghraib pictures forced us to confront that issue).

]]> him http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585532 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585532 Media Mon, 08 Jan 2007 14:39:05 -0800 Comment by StrangerDanger Thank you for bringing this to our attention. I just emailed the WP ombudsman.

]]> StrangerDanger http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585635 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585635 Media Mon, 08 Jan 2007 17:19:49 -0800 Comment by golob To Gitai and Him, I can see your point that most of these images are already available online.

Still, isn't there some value in having images presented by an editorially competent publication, with the fact-checking and validation that implies?

It's one thing to stumble upon a gruesome image on the internet. Quite another to see one on the cover of a paper of record like the Washington Post or New York Times. It becomes a part of our history and shared memory. That is what we are missing.

]]> golob http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585637 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585637 Media Mon, 08 Jan 2007 17:25:05 -0800 Comment by Papayas I just emailed the ombudsperson as well. "Understand the power of a single action." That was the quote on my REM concert t-shirt circa 1987.

]]> Papayas http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585687 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585687 Media Mon, 08 Jan 2007 19:42:14 -0800 Comment by Barney The Washington Post is doing the right thing, just like the New York Times did two years ago. If people had known biased facts about NSA warrantless surveillance before the '04 election, it might have skewed their decision. Nothing to see here folks. Move along.

]]> Barney http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585694 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585694 Media Mon, 08 Jan 2007 20:09:01 -0800 Comment by golob Not to burst your happy bubble Barney, but facts are facts. They aren't biased just because they make Bush look bad. That's reality. You know, the thing that refuses to go away, no matter how many Bush speeches someone listens to.

I wish the New York Times wasn't a shadow of itself, and simply published the full truth about the NSA program BEFORE the damn election.

How contemptuous you are of your fellow Americans to think it's best to keep the truth from them. You must be really smart!

]]> golob http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585696 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585696 Media Mon, 08 Jan 2007 20:18:06 -0800 Comment by COMTE Um, Golob I could be mistaken, but I believe Barney (as in "Fife", perhaps?) intended his post to be sarcastic.

]]> COMTE http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585922 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585922 Media Mon, 08 Jan 2007 21:49:30 -0800 Comment by Sean These images sound much worse than any of the examples shown on your post. I watched the video in which Nick Berg's head was slowly hacked off. I've seen pictures of exploded heads, the legs and spinal cord of a suicide bomber, and many other indescribable horrors. These images continue to haunt me. I wouldn't wish them on anyone, and I wish I never clicked on those links.

I think most people fully grasp the folly of the Iraq war even without seeing pictures of mutilated children. Besides, all wars are extremely gory, so it's not really relevant to the question of whether a given war is for a worthy cause.

]]> Sean http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585928 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585928 Media Mon, 08 Jan 2007 22:03:36 -0800 Comment by sputnik theres an explanation right now on PBS channel 9 about 21st racism against the Jews as being behind everyhting in the modern era and why the MIDDLEEASTERN muslims and malysians (UN speaker even said so) etc . Propaganda that its a gruop of zionists and that only 10 percent of Jews died at world trade center were behind the act. etc/. etc. The real hate isn't here its festering from overseas and it goes way beyond 200 years of American history my freinds. Were all fucked because we won't take the blame and we let the Propaganda fester. Man is destroying man and its killing our children and the planet. stop it please.

]]> sputnik http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585946 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585946 Media Mon, 08 Jan 2007 22:54:36 -0800 Comment by golob Sorry 'bout that. My irony-sensor must have been down.

]]> golob http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585948 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c585948 Media Mon, 08 Jan 2007 23:00:35 -0800 Comment by Rene "omsbudperson"

]]> Rene http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c586168 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c586168 Media Tue, 09 Jan 2007 10:48:21 -0800 Comment by him "omsbudweiser"

]]> him http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c586386 http://slog.thestranger.com/2007/01/a_picture_is_worth#c586386 Media Tue, 09 Jan 2007 14:19:14 -0800