# Is censorship of war images immoral? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 28, 2003, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-censorship-of-war-images-immoral/164661 "2003-03-28T00:44:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-censorship-of-war-images-immoral/164661/21 "2003-03-28T05:39:37Z")
I don’t think that the footage seen on Iraqi TV is necessarily Iraqi propaganda. A media analyst on ABC radio remarked yesterday that the coverage provided by Al Jazeera is much more graphic and closer to the action than any western news organisation can achieve. He said that they have many more camera crews on the ground and far greater access. ---
**Author:** ![serenitynow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@serenitynow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/serenitynow)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-censorship-of-war-images-immoral/164661/22 "2003-03-28T05:42:01Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ChaosGod \* > \*\*If I see a girl with her > [legs torn off](http://www.thememoryhole.org/war/gulfwar2/) , then I will definitely KNOW that a little girl’s legs have been torn off. > I therefore have _more_ information than if I hadn’t seen this. > I could then listen to one theory that says that one of the thousands of U.S smart bombs raining on Baghdad was the cause. > Another theory says a misguided Iraqi surface-air missile did it. > I could then try to figure out who’s trying to bullshit me. > I’m pretty sure the little girl could care no less. > But I’d know for sure that this was a consequence of this war. \*\* **Chaos** , I am not trying to pick on you here, but I really want to understand why some people feel this way because I frankly feel vehemently the opposite way. I looked at the website. I have seen the pictures. They are gruesome, to be polite. How do you know they were caused by the war, and not by something else? What is the benefit to you of knowing this beautiful little girl lost her legs in way that you will never know for sure? Or if you did know for sure that it was the result of artillery or whatever, what need or purpose does this fulfill for you? ---
**Author:** ![ChaosGod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ac91a4/32.png) [@ChaosGod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ChaosGod)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-censorship-of-war-images-immoral/164661/23 "2003-03-28T06:02:57Z")
**serenity** Well,… if we established the fact that viewing these things provides me more information about the consequences of war than I would have otherwise then, it follows that I would be in a better position to judge if this whole “topple Saddam” thing was friggin worth it. (I don’t yet see Saddam in the mounting pile of dead corpses, I do see the little girl with her legs torn off) If I was a U.S citizen, and had decided that Bush was fucking losing it, I would make sure that he doesn’t get elected next time around. Being a Uruguayan citizen, and having seen my servile government (for which I voted) support the war in exchange for economic favours, (96% of pop. against it) , I’m gonna march, shout, and vote for what I hope is a more honorable president next time around. ---
**Author:** ![Estilicon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Estilicon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Estilicon)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 3:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-censorship-of-war-images-immoral/164661/24 "2003-03-28T15:04:04Z")
> [@](#): > > Chaos, I am not trying to pick on you here, but I really want to understand why some people feel this way because I frankly feel vehemently the opposite way. I looked at the website. I have seen the pictures. They are gruesome, to be polite. How do you know they were caused by the war, and not by something else? 15 minutes after I finished reading this I was still trying to make a very sarcastic joke… I am no Elucidator. Images should be shown, and you are obligued to look at them specially if you happen to be someone that has been preaching for war this last couple of months. Thank god we can also see the other side of the issue, because in GW1 the worst image of the war was a false seabird soaking wet in petrol. ---
**Author:** ![bayonet1976](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bayonet1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bayonet1976)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-censorship-of-war-images-immoral/164661/25 "2003-03-28T15:36:57Z")
Let’s all take a deep breath and chant ommmmmmmmm for a few. Now, the only images of the war that are being censored right now are those that reporters in the fields are not allowed to send out due to military restrictions. Censorship is always and only a function of the government. A news network choosing not run a particular piece of video is not cersorship, it is editorial prerrogative. Which, of course, begs the question why are graphic images of war carnage not shown in network news? Do you really have to ask? How is showing all the graphic images described here going to improve the network’s ratings? Answer, it is not. In fact, I doubt that even Al-Jazeera’s ratings will be at all improved by showing these images. It’s all about ratings folks. At the end of the day CNN, Fox, et al couldn’t care less about propping up or shooting down the country’s or the troop’s morale. I’m not so sure about Al-Jazeera though, as I understand it it is a goverment (Qatar), run station, and as such its broadcast choice may be a driven more by ideology than ratings. ---
**Author:** ![EasyPhil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e47c2d/32.png) [@EasyPhil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EasyPhil)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-censorship-of-war-images-immoral/164661/26 "2003-03-28T16:02:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bayonet1976 \* > \*\*Which, of course, begs the question why are graphic images of war carnage not shown in network news? Do you really have to ask? How is showing all the graphic images described here going to improve the network’s ratings? Answer, it is not. In fact, I doubt that even Al-Jazeera’s ratings will be at all improved by showing these images. > > It’s all about ratings folks. At the end of the day CNN, Fox, et al couldn’t care less about propping up or shooting down the country’s or the troop’s morale. I’m not so sure about Al-Jazeera though, as I understand it it is a goverment (Qatar), run station, and as such its broadcast choice may be a driven more by ideology than ratings. \*\* Why has Al-Jazeera’s european subscriptions doubled during this war? ---
**Author:** ![bayonet1976](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/77aa72/32.png) [@bayonet1976](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bayonet1976)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2003, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-censorship-of-war-images-immoral/164661/27 "2003-03-28T17:40:03Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by EasyPhil \* > \*\*Why has Al-Jazeera’s european subscriptions doubled during this war? \*\* I have no idea, do you? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-censorship-of-war-images-immoral/164661.md?page=1)