Feds Drop Media Ban on Katrina Recovery

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: Richard Forno <rforno () infowarrior org>
Date: September 11, 2005 11:45:10 AM EDT
To: Blaster <rforno () infowarrior org>
Cc: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
Subject: Feds Drop Media Ban on Katrina Recovery


Feds Drop Media Ban on Katrina Recovery
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/09/10/ 
AR2005091000
923.html

By DAVID BAUDER
The Associated Press
Saturday, September 10, 2005; 9:08 PM

NEW YORK -- Challenged in court by CNN, the Bush administration  
agreed on
Saturday not to prevent the news media from following the effort to  
recover
the bodies of Hurricane Katrina victims.

The government won't, however, permit photographers to join them in  
boats or
helicopters during the mission to recover bodies from flooded homes.


A flood victim's body is seen enshrouded in a body bag under the  
Interstate
10 overpass in New Orleans on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2005. Efforts are  
being
made to locate bodies of victims as well as survivors still staying  
in their
homes. (AP Photo/Steve Senne)
A flood victim's body is seen enshrouded in a body bag under the  
Interstate
10 overpass in New Orleans on Saturday, Sept. 10, 2005. Efforts are  
being
made to locate bodies of victims as well as survivors still staying  
in their
homes. (AP Photo/Steve Senne) (Steve Senne - AP)

CNN filed suit against the Federal Emergency Management Agency in U.S.
District Court in Houston late Friday, concerned about two statements  
made
by government officials that day. The officials said they didn't  
believe it
was right for the news media to show pictures of Katrina victims.

Terry Ebbert, New Orleans' homeland security director, said the recovery
effort would be done with dignity, "meaning that there would be no press
allowed." Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore later said there would be zero  
access
to the recovery operation.

In a hearing Saturday before U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison, Army Lt.
Col. Christian DeGraff promised that recovery teams would not bar the  
media
from watching. Satisfied, CNN agreed to put its case on hold.

"We believe very strongly in the free flow of information and felt it  
was
necessary to have access to tell the full story," said Jim Walton, CNN
Newsgroup president.

He said CNN has proven in this story and others that it doesn't put
gratuitous images on the air.

Army Lt. Col. Richard Steele said that DeGraff's statement didn't  
represent
a change in policy. Reporters can watch recovery efforts they come  
upon, but
they won't be embedded with search teams.

"We're not going to bar, impede or prevent" the media from telling the
story, he said. "We're just not going to give the media a ride."

Images of Katrina's victims have frequently been part of the story,  
and The
Associated Press offered such pictures to its members on Saturday.  
None of
them showed victims' faces. The AP picture of a dead body in a  
wheelchair,
wrapped in blankets and resting near a wall, is one of most-remembered
images of the tragedy.

"Photographs of flood victims' bodies is part of the overall coverage of
Hurricane Katrina," said Cliff Schiappa, the AP's regional photo  
editor for
the Midwest. "When choosing an appropriate image, we do not want to be
gratuitous, but rather put the image in context of the flood and  
suffering.
The government is very concerned about the recovery efforts being  
done in a
dignified manner, as it should be done. As members of the media, it's  
our
job to show the world that such an effort is being made and carried  
out."

Some Bush administration opponents are suspicious that there would be
efforts to limit pictures of bodies so the public wouldn't be  
reminded of
the government's response to the storm. They likened it to restrictions
against taking pictures of bodies returning from the war in Iraq.

But Walton said he didn't think the "zero access" plans in New  
Orleans had
anything to do with politics.





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