Friday, March 6, 2009

Fallen Soldiers, Coming Home In Public

A. What is the article about?

The article is about the debate between allowing pictures of the coffins returning from the war to be taken and put out to the public. President Obama is now in the works of figuring out this decision. It is said that the photo ban was placed out of respect for families who want privacy to see their loved ones without a lot of press around. Others say that it is just a ploy to not let Americans be overtly affected by seeing pictures of so many coffins, which may draw an increased opposition to the war. In any case, this ban may soon be lifted.

B. What do you think about the material/information in this article? How does it seem to fit with our journalism class?

I think that the lift of the ban is opening up a new side of the war that many Americans haven't seen in a long while. It will be good for the country to be able to see that this war is having effects. Many people are forgetting how much this war impacts our country and its families, so this is a good way to get people informed again. This fits in well with our journalism class because our own newspaper is somewhat censored just as those pictures previously were.

C. What questions are you left with? What kind of articles in journalism would you like to read next?

The questions I am left with are how do the people how are related to the deceased feel about the lifting of the ban? Who decided that this ban could be lifted and how many people did they have to go through to go to get the permission? How photos were taken while the ban was on and will they now be open to the public, or do all the pictures released have to be new?

4 comments:

  1. i was left with the same questions, and i also believe that its unfair to those people whose loved ones are being photographed coming home from war. but you are right in the fact that these photographs open a side of war that until now many may not have even thought about.

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  2. I agree. I'd like to hear a little bit more from a family member of a soldier, whether alive or dead. Although there really is no way to portray the death of soldiers like showing their coffins, has the press tried any other ways to convey the same feeling without crossing the boundries of these families?

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  3. I wonderd that samae thing. Do the photos have to be new? I think that it was illegal to take pictures during the ban as well tho. SO i think the government will make a law or something that states that photos that were taken illegaly are not allowed.

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  4. The quality of your question is reflected in the questions by the three others reading your response. Nice job Clare!

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