# FEMA won''t let the press photograph recovery of the dead **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 7, 2005, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fema-wont-let-the-press-photograph-recovery-of-the-dead/320451 "2005-09-07T01:37:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fema-wont-let-the-press-photograph-recovery-of-the-dead/320451/101 "2005-09-09T02:37:20Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Uh, actually, yeah, it would have made it much less of a tragedy to those affected. “A hurricane destroyed my home,” is pretty bad. “A hurricane destroyed my home, and I had to live for five days in my own filth, with no food or water, in an lawless, overcrowded shanty town inside a football stadium, where I was raped twice,” is a whole lot fucking worse, and much more easily avoided than a Cat 5 hurricane, provided the people in charge aren’t colossal fucking morons. How many people live in New Orleans? A couple of million? How many were still there after the evacuation? How many folks are employed by FEMA or are contracted to respond? And lived RIGHT in that area so that no need to call responders and mob-up for the job was necesary? A few dozen in the best case scenario? Same with equipment, how much was right THERE in New Orleans, waiting for a hurricane, available at an instant’s notice with no need to mob?? Access to knowledge regarding New Orleans for those getting shipped in from out of state to assist? And so on. Even if the response had been the most perfect job that FEMA has ever pulled off EVER physics still apply. People have to be contacted, outfitted, shipped in, put in the vehicles or positions in which they are going to then go out from in order TO start rescuing people. There is no physical way that every person could have been instantly rescued, reimbursed for their losses, put into perfect home environment shelters, and made whole in any way shape or form that would have been acceptable to every person affected. It is inevitable, because of the hurricane, and the hurricane’s aftermath that any number of people would have suffered adverse affects simply due to that only so much can be done in these sorts of tragedies. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fema-wont-let-the-press-photograph-recovery-of-the-dead/320451/102 "2005-09-09T05:33:19Z")
So, in other words, why bother with disaster management at all? I have no doubt that there are THOUSANDS of people whose lives could have been saved, had the government not screwed up royally on all levels. But the way you’re talking, **CanvasShoes** , it’s as if the difference in consequence between the current scenario and a “perfect government response” is so negligible as to be inconsequential. Is that what you’re trying to convey? ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fema-wont-let-the-press-photograph-recovery-of-the-dead/320451/103 "2005-09-09T05:56:16Z")
> [@Tracy Lord](#): > > So, in other words, why bother with disaster management at all? > > I have no doubt that there are THOUSANDS of people whose lives could have been saved, had the government not screwed up royally on all levels. But the way you’re talking, **CanvasShoes** , it’s as if the difference in consequence between the current scenario and a “perfect government response” is so negligible as to be inconsequential. Is that what you’re trying to convey? Noooo. Not even remotely close to what I’m saying. Not sure how you even managed to glean that from what I posted. I am not sure if there could have, or could have NOT been “thousands” whose lives could have been saved hand this been handled “correctly” whatever that may turn out to be. I will open-mindedly await the full disclosure of the investigation into the alleged incompetencies, illegalities, disrimination and so forth before I do make that decision. That said, it’s quite obvious to me that someone dropped the ball somewhere, and quite badly too. But people seem to be taking that, and transferring their pain and outrage for the ENTIRE disaster onto JUST that likely occurance. It’s as if both those in this thread and IRL are of the mind that if only the errors and incompetency hadn’t happened, that NONE of this horror would have happened, and ONLY the pictures will tell the “truth” (whatever that may ultimately turn out to be). And, with that in mind, what I am saying is that photos of the dead aren’t what will, or will not in the future be the be-all and end-all of what could make a positive difference when inadequate responses happen. Though I can very much understand the desperate need to hang the blame on something (that something in this case being the disallowed photos), however misguided. ---
**Author:** ![Tracy\_Lord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@Tracy\_Lord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tracy_Lord)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 6:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fema-wont-let-the-press-photograph-recovery-of-the-dead/320451/104 "2005-09-09T06:38:07Z")
I hoped that wasn’t what you were saying/implying, which is why I asked. I think it’s clear that more than one “someone” dropped the ball, and that the scale and…I can’t think of another word but “inhumanity,” but that’s not what I mean. Subhuman conditions. The utter mess that’s in New Orleans right now could have been significantly – _significantly_ – decreased had government preparation and response been better. That’s one of the reasons, but certainly not the only reason, why photojournalism is important. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fema-wont-let-the-press-photograph-recovery-of-the-dead/320451/105 "2005-09-09T06:48:29Z")
> [@Tracy Lord](#): > > I hoped that wasn’t what you were saying/implying, which is why I asked. > > I think it’s clear that more than one “someone” dropped the ball, and that the scale and…I can’t think of another word but “inhumanity,” but that’s not what I mean. Subhuman conditions. The utter mess that’s in New Orleans right now could have been significantly – _significantly_ – decreased had government preparation and response been better. > > That’s one of the reasons, but certainly not the only reason, why photojournalism is important. Good. I certainly wouldn’t want that to be the impression. As to your last sentence. …“that’s why photojournalisim is so important”. As I’ve said before in this thread, I do AGREE with that. But my major beef with the OP’s beef and that of others is that it seems, and it is likely just their anguish talking, that so many people are seeing this as : Photos get taken and displayed = heads will roll, people will care, justice will be served Photos don’t get taken and displayed = no one cares, FEMA will get off scot free, anarchy will rein. And THAT is the mentality that is buggin’ me. I do, for the record, agree that these things should be documented. But I strenuously DISAGREE that the lack of documentation is what is standing between the victims of the incompetent response, and justice. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fema-wont-let-the-press-photograph-recovery-of-the-dead/320451/106 "2005-09-09T06:50:46Z")
:smack: err reign…okay must be time for bed ---
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fema-wont-let-the-press-photograph-recovery-of-the-dead/320451/107 "2005-09-09T09:39:58Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > This “what if a relative recognizes the body” argument is mighty weak. If that’s really the concern here, they could have asked the media to simply blur faces. > > I agree with those that say documenting this incident is vital for historical purposes, and also that pictures of bodies is what really brings home the depth of what happened. It was the pictures and movies of the piles of bodies that really made the holocaust hit home with me, not reading numbers in my history book. After 8 days exposure to water and/or tropical conditions, nobody is going to recognise a relative’s body from a photograph. ---
**Author:** ![Sevastopol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cdc98d/32.png) [@Sevastopol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevastopol)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fema-wont-let-the-press-photograph-recovery-of-the-dead/320451/108 "2005-09-09T09:42:48Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > The whole “people have to see gore and horror to behave in a ‘correct’ way regarding the tragedy” idea is severely misguided. What a doubting Thomas you’ve become. ---
**Author:** ![Harborwolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c89c15/32.png) [@Harborwolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harborwolf)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 10:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fema-wont-let-the-press-photograph-recovery-of-the-dead/320451/109 "2005-09-09T10:54:17Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > **CanvasShoes.** It’s not an either/or situation. It is about the public’s right to know and the responsibility of the press to document and preserve in words, interviews and pictures, history. I’ve got no problem with preserving history. What I don’t like is seeing “shocking new footage” trumpeted before every news broadcast or pictures of dead bodies being used to sell newspapers. Just because the press seems to have gotten their balls back doesn’t mean that they’re saints all of a sudden. ---
**Author:** ![Eleusis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Eleusis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eleusis)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2005, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fema-wont-let-the-press-photograph-recovery-of-the-dead/320451/110 "2005-09-09T11:08:52Z")
There will be plenty of awful awful photos on [ogrish.com](http://ogrish.com) soon enough. Trust me, _don’t look_. I fucking mean it… 99% of normal people would be permanantly scarred from seeing it, so Just Don’t Look. I think I was probably scarred from seeing the tsunami victims on that site, and I’m a hardcore motherfucker. But it will be there, for those who _need_ to see it. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fema-wont-let-the-press-photograph-recovery-of-the-dead/320451/111 "2005-09-10T13:54:56Z")
[Judge supports CNN request to cover Katrina’s toll](http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/09/10/katrina.media/index.html) > [@](#): > > HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) – At the request of CNN, a federal judge in Texas Friday night blocked emergency officials in New Orleans from preventing the media from covering the recovery of bodies from Hurricane Katrina. > Attorneys for the network argued that the ban was an unconstitutional prior restraint on news gathering. > U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison issued a temporary restraining order against a “zero access” policy announced earlier Friday by Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fema-wont-let-the-press-photograph-recovery-of-the-dead/320451/112 "2005-09-10T14:08:04Z")
> [@Squink](#): > > [Judge supports CNN request to cover Katrina’s toll](http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/09/10/katrina.media/index.html) Hallelujah. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fema-wont-let-the-press-photograph-recovery-of-the-dead/320451/113 "2005-09-10T14:34:53Z")
To steal a really good point made elsewhere: The press did not want to show bodies/jumpers from 9/11, for fear that doing so would inflame the public. Presumably, this time around the press thinks inflaming the public is OK. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fema-wont-let-the-press-photograph-recovery-of-the-dead/320451/114 "2005-09-10T15:03:32Z")
Well, consider: Inflaming the public after 9/11 would likely have encouraged anger and possibly hate crimes against Muslims, Arab-Americans and Arab immigrants. Inflaming the public over Katrina would direct their anger toward the city, state and federal efforts and their lack of a strong, coordinated response. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fema-wont-let-the-press-photograph-recovery-of-the-dead/320451/115 "2005-09-10T15:09:12Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > Well, consider: Inflaming the public after 9/11 would likely have encouraged anger and possibly hate crimes against Muslims, Arab-Americans and Arab immigrants. Inflaming the public over Katrina would direct their anger toward the city, state and federal efforts and their lack of a strong, coordinated response. Yes, that was sort of the point. But, ostensibly, the press’ job is to just tell the facts, not decide when and against whom outrage is justified. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fema-wont-let-the-press-photograph-recovery-of-the-dead/320451/116 "2005-09-10T15:21:34Z")
**furt.** That’s only true of straight news (to a degree) and a common misconception when applied to the news industry as a whole. The press has never been completely impartial and has frequently taken stands against injustice. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fema-wont-let-the-press-photograph-recovery-of-the-dead/320451/117 "2005-09-10T15:41:13Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > **furt.** That’s only true of straight news (to a degree) and a common misconception when applied to the news industry as a whole. The press has never been completely impartial and has frequently taken stands against injustice. Ah; so they’ll only be using the photos to accompany op-eds then? Sweetheart, I’m not an idiot; I know how the game is played. Plenty of opinion gets put on page one. I’m just pointing it out. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fema-wont-let-the-press-photograph-recovery-of-the-dead/320451/118 "2005-09-10T16:03:20Z")
As I said: the press has never been completely impartial and has frequently taken stands against injustice. We’re not really disagreeing with each other, except where you get too familar by calling me by a term of endearment. Do stop. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fema-wont-let-the-press-photograph-recovery-of-the-dead/320451/119 "2005-09-10T16:13:02Z")
Love ya, snugglebuns. Kiss, kiss. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2005, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fema-wont-let-the-press-photograph-recovery-of-the-dead/320451/120 "2005-09-10T16:18:22Z")
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