Phil Donohue railing against corporate media's role in perpetuating war leads me to wonder about casket photos

Phil Donohue spoke to the press at last week's California Democratic Convention. He was there to promote his new documentary Body of War and also to give the keynote speech at the party convention dinner.

While we didn't see his keynote, Glennia commented that we got a taste of what his speech would have been like in the press room. The time that we spent with him listening to him speak and answer questions was nothing short of inspiring, and the two minute trailer he showed were enough to steel my resolve that those of us who opposed the war from the start need to do more to stop it.

Donohue made the movie in part, he explained, because he thinks he is someone who can help end the war. At first that statement seems a little self-inflating, but when you think about it, if high-profile, out-spoken, well-spoken, well-respected people don't speak out, then who?

And how do high-profile people speak out? They use their influence (and their money) to create and promote projects that they hope will have maximum impact.

Donohue showed his progressive roots when he railed against corporate media and the privatization of the war. One particularly sharp and memorable point was when he said that soldiers in WWII would never have stood for private citizens fighting along side them (and getting paid 3-4x more)—a reference to the Blackwater scandal.

He also pointed out that as the Iraq war casualty rate has doubled so has the price of Halliburton stock. (I haven't checked this.)

Donohue was particularly pointed when he said (paraphrasing) that this country is being held hostage by corporate media. His own MSNBC show was canceled because, as he put it, an anti-war pundit wasn't good for business. When asked why Olbermann was successful at it Donohue remarked that it's because 4,000 soldiers are dead (countless more civilians) and now, finally, our country is starting to "get it."

He is right.

Said Donohue, "The government told corporate media 'You can't take pictures of caskets' and media said, 'Okay.' Where is the bite?"

I've been thinking about this very topic for a while now.

The ban on media covering returning casualties began in 1991 during the first gulf war and continues to this day. The reason for the policy at the time was to show respect for families that had lost loved ones and I respect with that. How can you not? But we as citizens have a right to see the images of the price of war. Why is corporate media playing along with the Bush administration?

Every now and again the Pentagon releases photos of flag-draped caskets, but they often show blacked out faces and military insignia. The Pentagon has their reasons for doing this ranging from showing respect to family members to national security, but there is also no doubt that a photograph full of redactions is unprintable.

After bring sued for the right to see the photos under the Freedom of Information Act, the government has released photos. They are now available but still hard to come by in mainstream corporate media.

If newspapers and websites ran daily or weekly photos of caskets being off-loaded at Dover Air Force Base, I wonder how much longer this war could continue? (Note: PBS's The News Hour with Jim Lehrer shows photos of fallen soldiers in silence.) I don't feel it is disrespectful, on the contrary, it honors a soldiers' sacrifice. Have you ever seen a photograph of a burial at sea? It is gut-wrenching. Or uniformed men and women carefully tending to caskets inside a transport plane? Military pall bearers. An honor guard standing at attention yet visibly humbled—even with blacked out faces you feel it. When you see photos like this you cannot help but feel the utmost respect for these men and women. I can't also help but feel that no other parent should be without a child, no other child without a parent, no other partner should be left alone.

All the photos I have seen show tremendous restraint and sensitivity on the photographer's part, this is an example:

This photo was released by the Pentagon.

It may be a fine line between respect and exploitation and ultimately the feeling of the families of those that made the ultimate sacrifice should be respected. But in the same way Cindy Sheehan speaks out against the war to honor her son's death, showing us the cost of war could have a powerful impact—and help to end the war so no one else has to die. As citizens, we should be able to see these photos and honor the fallen.

I hope Phil Donohue doesn't mind me continuing his thought process. It is time for the media to show some "bite." And if corporate, mainstream media can't or won't do it, it's up to the rest of us.

Comments

[Amy]

Phil Donahue rocks! I nearly lost my sh*t when his show on MSNBC was canceled.

[Lawyer Mama]

Yes, I remember when a civilian contractor was fired at the beginning of Gulf II for taking a picture of dozens of flag draped coffins. It was respectful, but, as you say, gut wrenching.

[John J.]

I appreciate what Donahue is doing, but I fear he is being glib.

Regarding his comment about Olbermann's show still being on (I will admit to not watching either), Olbermann has been on the air for five years, the length of the war. It may be the presentation more than the message itself, again, I don't know having not watched either, but it isn't just being against the war.

Personally, I respect the media's decision not to show the caskets on a weekly basis. If they were doing it to hide the numbers, or hide the consequences, that would be one thing, but doing it out of respect for the families I will not object to. Instead, weekly we are given a list of 12+ dead soldiers' names on This Week's In Memoriam; almost daily we hear about another car bombing or attack on the nightly news; and on a regular basis we get special "front lines" or Iraqi point of view specials on various news programs or channels.

The problem is not as much the media as the apathy of the normal American. They have become inured to these images after more than five years of it. It's depressing but it is something we who are fighting against this war need to see and find a way to overcome.

[debbie - i obsess]

I hate this illegal war.

[Daisy]

"And if corporate, mainstream media can't or won't do it, it's up to the rest of us."
That's the hard part.
Let's keep on blogging, but most of all, let's vote in November to end this war.

[Tracee Sioux]

Phil Donahue's show is the reason I'm a Democrat - from when he would come on after the soaps when I was a kid. It's the reason I'm not a racist or a homophobe.

I heart Phil. He was my Oprah before Oprah.

[libhomo]

Donohue is a great person. I'm glad he hasn't given up the fight.