death and media

flogen

this week we were met with two controversies in the media concerning the rights and wrongs of broadcasting images of the dead, or the dying.

I am of course refering to the 60 Minutes show in the US that showed pictures of a dying Princess Diana being taken from the wreckage (i think) and internet and subsequently national media showing pictures of American soldiers coffins flying back from Iraq.

Now, my views on this are simple, there was no need to show the pictures of Diana, they may not be graphic or gruesome, but that doesnt matter. I feel that if there is no reason other than to cause a stir, then there is no merit to their broadcast. CBS didnt seem to give any constructive reason why they should show them, they just told us all they werent bloody and so on.. thats not good enough.
As for the US soldiers, there is a justification behind showing them, and I'll leave it up to you to see how that weighs against any reason why not to show then (such as disrespect etc). I feel that the pictures of the coffins were not gruesome, so the government of the US cant argue that they were unfit for public consumption, however, like the Diana issue, is there any good reason to show them? Well, some say it helps bring the message home about the deaths. maybe so, but maybe not, I'm not sure if seeing a coffin would make you any more knowledgable on the war than hearing a news report saying soldiers had died. Perhaps these blatent images are a good way of cutting through the spin of war reporting in America, and simply show the result of a death in its rawest form, without the propaganda. I cant see how this would be true, but perhaps I'm missing something... not to sound arrogant, but I know about the deaths, and what they mean because I do my best to keep up to date on the war. Maybe those of us less interested will be sucked into the argument now, and be forced to make a moral opinion rather than sitting obliviously on the fence.. is there really people out there that need to be spoonfed such information in order to understand its gravity?

Can anyone here give good reason as to why these images should be show? I really would like to hear someone elses view, on them, and I'd be happy to change my stance on either if they had a strong case. For the first time in i dont know how long I find myself agreeing with the Pentagon in relation to Iraq (well not so much agreeing but more being on their side than that of their critics)

Flogen

vorbis

i have to agree flogen. Its not like their deaths are being covered up. The stats are in the public domain. Where is the public interest in showing the coffins?