I don't think anyone on here is a fan of the AP. Their incendiary and misleading headlines and slanted coverage barely passes for journalism. But now they have gone too far.
Politico covers the story of the AP publishing a photograph of a mortally wounded solider against the wishes of the family. Defense Secretary Gates has even jumped into the fray on this one...
Defense Secretary Robert Gates is objecting "in the strongest terms" to an Associated Press decision to transmit a photograph showing a mortally wounded 21-year-old Marine in his final moments of life, calling the decision "appalling" and a breach of "common decency."
The AP reported that the Marine’s father had asked – in an interview and in a follow-up phone call — that the image, taken by an embedded photographer, not be published.
The AP reported in a story that it decided to make the image public anyway because it "conveys the grimness of war and the sacrifice of young men and women fighting it."
I know these pictures are important and it is important to document what is going on in these wars, but when we sen young men and women over there there is a national obligation to their families to help the to the maximum extent possible with their grief should the worst happen.
The young man was killed with a rocket propelled grenade..this is not going to be a pretty picture -and I know some families would feel that it is a good way to honor their fallen loved ones, this family does not agree.