FEMA accused of censorship

[bishop]

article

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When U.S. officials asked the media not to take pictures of those killed by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath, they were censoring a key part of the disaster story, free speech watchdogs said on Wednesday. The move by the Federal Emergency Management Agency is in line with the Bush administration's ban on images of flag-draped U.S. military coffins returning from the Iraq war, media monitors said in separate telephone interviews. "It's impossible for me to imagine how you report a story whose subject is death without allowing the public to see images of the subject of the story," said Larry Siems of the PEN American Center, an authors' group that defends free expression. U.S. newspapers, television outlets and Web sites have featured pictures of shrouded corpses and makeshift graves in New Orleans. But on Tuesday, FEMA refused to take reporters and photographers along on boats seeking victims in flooded areas, saying they would take up valuable space need in the recovery effort and asked them not to take pictures of the dead. In an e-mail explaining the decision, a FEMA spokeswoman wrote: "The recovery of victims is being treated with dignity and the utmost respect and we have requested that no photographs of the deceased by made by the media." Efforts to recover bodies continued on Wednesday. Out in the city's filthy waters, rescue teams tied bodies to trees or fences when they found them and noted the location for later recovery before carrying on in search of survivors. Rebecca Daugherty of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press found this stance inexplicable. "The notion that, when there's very little information from FEMA, that they would even spend the time to be concerned about whether the reporting effort is up to its standards of taste is simply mind-boggling," Daugherty said. "You cannot report on the disaster and give the public a realistic idea of how horrible it is if you don't see that there are bodies as well." 'INVITATION TO CHAOS' FEMA's policy of excluding media from recovery expeditions in New Orleans is "an invitation to chaos," according to Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a part of Columbia University's journalism school. "This is about managing images and not public taste or human dignity," Rosenstiel said. He said FEMA's refusal to take journalists along on recovery missions meant that media workers would go on their own. Rosenstiel also noted that U.S. media, especially U.S. television outlets, are generally reluctant to show corpses. "By and large, American television is the most sanitized television in the world," he said. "They are less likely to show bodies, they are less likely to show graphic images of the dead than any television in the world." There is also a question of what the American PEN Center's Siems called "international equity," noting that American news outlets cover stories around the world showing the effects of natural disasters and wars in graphic detail. "How is the world going to look at us if we go into their part of the world and we broadcast these images and we do not allow ourselves to look at such images when they're right in our own midst?" Siems said. Mark Tapscott, a former editor at the Washington Times newspaper who now deals with media issues at the Heritage Foundation, said the FEMA decision did not amount to censorship. "Let's not make a common decency issue into a censorship issue," Tapscott said. "Nobody wants to wake up in the morning and see their dead uncle on the front page. That's just common decency."

what happens when the government can't escape its own incompetence? cencorship.

[PatrickHenry]

Whitewash, coverup, hiding from the issues. Is this a function of government's drive for propaganda? Only the uplifting stuff gets mentioned or displayed?

[bishop]

there's another article floating on the nyt saying that karl rove has advised administration officials to ignore all questions and statements made by democrats.. instead, they're going to attempt to deflect/focus the blame on new orlean's officials, which coincidentally are democrats.

since this disaster began, and following the administration's horrendous response, all i've seen from them has been damage control. doing everything possible to limit the political damage while seeming to view saving the victims as an afterthought - as evidenced by fema's repeated mistakes, the administration's refusal to accept aid from other nations, bush's blatant ineptness stating that nobody could've foreseen this, etc.... it's despicable.

i'm just wondering at what point does bush's teflon wear off and the public finally decides not to forgive him again. like, what the hell else does he have to foul up for the country?

[Jack]

Of course, they had no problem allowing Oprah to waste valuable helocopter time "touring" the tragedy to add some sensationism to her TV show. Like she is going to write a check to make it all better.

Give 'em all a new car, Oprah!

[PatrickHenry]

I watched Scott McClellan today say he wasn't going to "play the blame game" or engage in "finger pointing" about thirty times in response to pointed questions from the press. Those phrases got so old I wanted to scream. (Actually I did scream at the tube...) He just kept using those terms; "blame game, finger pointing."

Lissen, McClellan! This ain't no game! Thousands of people are dead! And you squatters in the White House have to face the music! Millions of Americans are pointing their fingers right at YOU!

Is this the only administration in history that never made any mistakes?

[bishop]

and we all know how trustworthy mcclellan and this administration are... (reminds me of his blatant lies over the rove/cia scandal.) right now, though, it sounds more like they are aiming to blame the "liberal media" instead of new orleans' officials. so long as they can begin to claim to be a victim, or blame someone else - it's an option they will exploit.

i'm not sure if i remember many administrations admitting errors, but i do remember many that have changed policies mid-course when they weren't working. what they didn't say in words, they said even louder in actions.. bush, on the other hand, is all talk and little action.. at least, not the kind of action that helps or matters.

[ibm]

long time ago thought this kind of things only happens in commie china. ... it just goes on to show how weak those people really are.

[Trotsky]

Guys guys guys, Politicians are never wrong, they only adapt their policies to suit the changing needs of the their people. Come on!

Also isn't their something in the US constitution preventing the deployment of the US army on US soil?? Didn't this have to be overcome before they could deploy the troops?? I heard that some constitutional lawyer was going to take the government to the supreme court if they deployed troops.

Another note, why were the dead not recovered?? rotting human corpses are jsut a breeding ground for a whole miriad of infectious diseases.

[SteveA]

there's another article floating on the nyt saying that karl rove has advised administration officials to ignore all questions and statements made by democrats.. instead, they're going to attempt to deflect/focus the blame on new orlean's officials, which coincidentally are democrats.

I'd read another article that said back in 2000, FEMA took over most the state and local level emergency services. Assuming that's true, then didn't the federal government also assume responsibility over state and local emergency issues? I don't see how they can pass the buck back down to local authorities if they'd already usurped the right to control emergency responses.

[bishop]

watched the daily show tonight and he had brian williams on who confirmed this story. he plainly said that he and his team of reporters were doing a story and some cop/guard/goon pointed a gun at them.

nice to see martial law in the home of the free and brave.

[bishop]

this censorship thing is definitely for real.

cnn just filed a lawsuit over the constitutionality of this administration's policy.

i'll post an article when one surfaces.

[bishop]

here it is... cnn's suiing... this will determine whether/not we still have a free press in this country.

http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/article/ds24251.html

Attempts to censor the photography of corpses in New Orleans and other areas devastated by Hurricane Katrina have been challenged by CNN. On Friday, officials at FEMA, the embattled emergency management agency of the American government, requested that the media not take photographs of dead bodies. The agency has also started to reject reporters' requests to travel with rescue boats, now that the waters are receding and the dead bodies become more and more prevalent. By Friday afternoon, CNN News Group president Jim Walton issued the following email to staff at the network: "In response to official statements earlier today that news media would be excluded from covering the victim recovery process in New Orleans and surrounding areas on the suggestion that what is reported may offend viewers' or victims' sensibilities, CNN has filed a lawsuit in federal court to prohibit any agency from restricting its ability to fully and fairly cover this story. "As seen most recently from war zones in Afghanistan and Iraq, from tsunami-ravaged South Asia and from Hurricane Katrina's landfall along the Gulf, CNN has shown that it is capable of balancing vigorous reporting with respect for private concerns. Government officials cannot be allowed to hinder the free flow of information to the public, and CNN will not let such a decision stand without challenge." A few hours later, a US District Court Judge granted CNN a restraining order preventing emergency officials in the disaster area hindering the media's coverage of the body recovery process. TVNewser reports that this order is temporary; a follow-up hearing will take place on Saturday to establish whether or not the order will be made permanent.

good luck cnn!

[RickSp]

More men with guns giving orders to journalists.

Standing in the Way Of a Good Story

When NBC anchor Brian Williams and his crew were trying to take pictures of a National Guard unit securing a Brooks Brothers shop in downtown New Orleans, a sergeant blocked the footage by ordering them to the other side of Canal Street. "I have searched my mind for some justification for why I can't be reporting in a calm and heavily defended American city and cannot find one," Williams said yesterday. "I don't like being told when I can and cannot walk on the streets and take pictures." But he grumbled and told his crew to stop shooting Wednesday, Williams said, because "authority in New Orleans is as good as the last person to make the rule. I didn't have time to take it up the chain." As rescue and recovery efforts continue in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, reporters and press analysts are growing increasingly critical of restrictions on media access. The Federal Emergency Management Agency, under heavy journalistic fire for its slow response to the disaster, has sparked new criticism by asking news organizations not to take pictures of bodies being recovered in Louisiana and Mississippi. FEMA spokesman Mark Pfeifle said yesterday that the agency "has asked that those images not be shown," but that this is only a request. "Our main desire is to avoid unfortunate situations where a family member waiting for news of a loved one would find out about their passing from a newspaper or watching television," he said. Some Louisiana officials, whether taking their cue from FEMA or not, are attempting to make the policy mandatory. Washington Post reporter Timothy Dwyer said he heard a sergeant from a state agency telling a camera crew allowed on a boat in a flooded area near downtown New Orleans: "If we catch you photographing one body, we're going to bring you back in and throw you off the boat." The irony, Dwyer said, was that two bodies -- one in a black bag, the other covered by a blue quilt -- were visible on the off-ramp of Interstate 10 that the boats were using as a staging area. Television networks have continued to show some bodies, as they have since the hurricane struck, but often covered or in body bags, so identification is not an issue. There have been other moments of tension. At a fire near the French Quarter, Williams noted in a posting on NBC's Web site, a police officer from out of town "raised the muzzle of her weapon and aimed it at members of the media . . . obvious members of the media . . . armed only with notepads." He also noted that the National Guard is barring journalists from the city's convention center and Superdome, the very facilities that evacuees were barred from leaving last week. "I saw many fingers on triggers," Williams said yesterday, producing such a sense of being in a foreign land that he repeatedly caught himself saying, "When I get back to the States."

[bishop]

the nice thing, at least is that in light of cnn's lawsuit, the government backed down and decided to honor the constitutional right of a free press.

and, what a bunch of scum they are for even attempting to ban this constitutional right.

[PatrickHenry]

The censorship continues: Is the First Amendment passé?
http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cg...NG3HEMQHG1.DTL
Aaahh! Who needs a free press anyhow? I like living in a tyranny!

New Orleans -- A long caravan of white vans led by an Army humvee rolled Monday through New Orleans' Bywater district, a poor, mostly black neighborhood, northeast of the French Quarter. Recovery team members wearing white protective suits and black boots stopped at houses with spray painted markings on the doors designating there were dead bodies inside. Outside one house on Kentucky Street, a member of the Army 82nd Airborne Division summoned a reporter and photographer standing nearby and told them that if they took pictures or wrote a story about the body recovery process, he would take away their press credentials and kick them out of the state. "No photos. No stories," said the man, wearing camouflage fatigues and a red beret. On Saturday, after being challenged in court by CNN, the Bush administration agreed not to prevent the news media from following the effort to recover the bodies of Hurricane Katrina victims. But on Monday, in the Bywater district, that assurance wasn't being followed. The 82nd Airborne soldier told reporters the Army had a policy that requires media to be 300 meters -- more than three football fields in length -- away from the scene of body recoveries in New Orleans. If reporters wrote stories or took pictures of body recoveries, they would be reported and face consequences, he said, including a loss of access for up-close coverage of certain military operations.

[Protostar]

Quote by: bishop the nice thing, at least is that in light of cnn's lawsuit, the government backed down and decided to honor the constitutional right of a free press. and, what a bunch of scum they are for even attempting to ban this constitutional right.

I agree. If you don't like what you're seeing on the television, turn it off and go cry in a corner. I'm sick of people whining and moaning about how they don't want to see "this" or "that" on TV. The networks should be able to show whatever they want and if you don't like it, tough!