Media Necrophilia

From Editor and Publisher:

Forced to defend what some critics consider its slow response to the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said on Tuesday it does not want the news media to take photographs of the dead as they are recovered from New Orleans.

FEMA, which is leading the rescue efforts, rejected requests from journalists to accompany rescue boats as they went out to search for storm victims, Reuters reported.

A FEMA spokeswoman told the wire service that space was need on the rescue boats and assured Reuters that "the recovery of the victims is being treated with dignity and the utmost respect."

"We have requested that no photographs of the deceased be made by the media," the spokeswoman told Reuters via e-mail.

Burke and Hare at least advanced the cause of medicine. The media desire to exploit the dead of Hurricane Katrina cannot even claim that level of social utility.

After reading the barely concealed disdain in this Editor and Publisher article, one has to ask; what is to be gained by displaying the pictures of bloated, putrefying corpses pulled from the flood? Does it serve to advance the cause of future disaster preparedness? Do it help to explain the loss of a family member, by showing his dead child on page 1A for all to see?

What is the media's true desire here, and is that motive worth sacrificing the basic respect we have for the dead and their living families?

The Editor and Publisher article displays a certain journalistic necrophilia in its desire to abuse the bodies of Hurricane Katrina's victims for perceived political gratification.

Interestingly, I cannot recall such a macabre desire of the media to show drowning victims in more northern climes.

Update: The Anchoress has more, and it isn't for the faint of heart.

Another Update: Protein Wisdom says BRING OUT YOUR DEAD, CHIMPY! BRING OUT YOUR DEAD!