September 10, 2005
Open Letter to the Vultures
Dear CNN,
Thank you so much for filing suit against the federal government so that CNN can film the recovery of bodies of those killed by Hurricane Katrina. It is imperative that we, the public, be allowed to see the bloated and rotting corpses of those killed in this natural disaster, even though many of us still have loved ones missing.
Your suit was allegedly filed to allow you full and fair cover coverage, and "vigorous reporting," yet your suit didn't seemed concerned with addressing "sympathy for family members" or "respect for the dead." I can only surmise you are completely unfamiliar with the words "compassion" and "dignity," but then again, you are the media, so perhaps that is understandable.
Could it be that as far as CNN in concerned, stripping the last bits of humanity from the deceased isn't quite as important as an attempt to raise your ratings, or perhaps to inflame public passions?
Thank you for once again displaying the kind of class we've come to expect from CNN.
Sincerely,
Confederate Yankee
If you would like to express your feeling towards CNN's exploitive filming of the dead, you can do so here.
Update: Via email an article from the Dallas News, September 14, 1900 after the 1900 Storm in Galveston, TX that left 6,000 dead:
Looters found despoiling the dead were summarily executed by the militia - stood against the nearest wall or pile of debris and shot without the hindrance of a trial. The same brutal justice was delivered to amateur photographers. "Word received from Galveston today indicates that Kodak fiends are being shot down like thieves. Two, it is stated, were killed yesterday while taking pictures of nude female bodies."
Call me old-fashioned, but they had the right idea.
Update: Welcome Instapundit readers. We've got a lot move coverage of Hurricane Katrina-related issues on the main page, from who really "hates black people" (Kayne West might be surprised), to confirmation of the Orleans Parish Prison Riot, to revealing Sean Penn's fake body armor during his much-mocked rescue attempts, and much more. Thanks for stopping by, and please consider making Confederate Yankee a regular read. Thanks!
"Inflame public passions..." exactly!
Yet, where were all the "inflammatory" pictures of the corpses of 9/11? Hmmmm CNN? No... can't show those - those might "inflame" the public against the anti-western muslims.
No, better block out all pics of 9/11 and everything related to it.
But when it comes to a disaster that CNN can use to smear Bush, well, HELL! Sue for the access! Get outta CNN's way!
There's a president to bring down!
CNN=Buncha has-been idiots.
Posted by: William Thrash at September 10, 2005 12:49 PMI contacted CNN with my views on this matter. If they begin airing video of putrifying corpses, they will have reached an all-time low in basic human decency.
Posted by: lady redhawk at September 10, 2005 03:06 PM" If they begin airing video of putrifying corpses, they will have reached an all-time low in basic human decency."
Nah. They will just be maintaining their normally abyssimally low standards. This *is* CNN, not a some more reputable news source like World Weekly or National Enquirer.
Posted by: Mark L at September 10, 2005 05:31 PMThey already have shown dead bodies, at least here on CNNInternational...maybe instead they should show that funeral directors are volunteering to help bury those who died...
http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/special_packages/hurricane_katrina/12604875.htm
nahh, can't publicize people helping people...must bash bush must bash bush...
No one is mentioning that the media & internet has been showing dead Katrina victims ever since Day 1. No one has been focussing on them, just showing what is necessary to illustrate the story. CNN is pushing a bizarre kind of necrophilia.
Posted by: Tresho at September 10, 2005 11:55 PMYeah, the dead bodies only exist if they can be be exploited by the media. Otherwise, they must remain invisible. Shame on all of you.
Mouth-breathing is no excuse for being stupid.
Posted by: Otherwise you might have to admit your knuckle are scraped raw. at September 11, 2005 04:56 AMThe only issue here is an administration that wants to suppress the truth. If the first impulse had not been to exclude journalists from the area this suit never would hav been filed.
Typical Bush bullshit. First do something repugnant, then hysterically mischaracterize the reaction. This whole predictable, tiresome process is greatly advanced by intellectually dishonest news services and blogs like this one.
Posted by: Tulkinghorn at September 11, 2005 07:27 AMJesus, what a bunch of whining, snivelling, liberal morons. I hope that when disaster strikes you, your bloated corpses make the news, you know, just for entertainment. You are all so beneath contempt there are no words to properly describe you.
Posted by: Improbulus Maximus at September 11, 2005 08:08 AMThe only issue here is an administration that wants to suppress the truth.
Did I miss some development in this story? I thought FEMA was not allowing photographers to waste space on rescue boats. That's not suppressing the truth - it's efficiently using resources.
I don't care if the photographers want to take pictures of dead bodies or heroic rescues - they shouldn't waste space that could be used by people doing real work.
Posted by: mrsizer at September 11, 2005 12:01 PMjust posted a comment at CNN. thanks for the link. your site is now a bookmark.
Posted by: San Diego Shawn at September 11, 2005 12:32 PMFunny, all this talk about CNN. The only bodies I've seen so far (and I've been reading 3 times a day, every day) has been on MSNBC both on-air (at the convention center) and on-line (latest pictures - showing a body under the water, barely visible).
I belive the issue here wasn't dead bodies, but access to the area.
I also don't understand why the city and state has not allowed the Red-Cross into the city. There is between 40 and 50% of the city that is *DRY AND HABITABLE* that can be used to setup support for those still there.
That's really the question, what the heck is going on that they don't want reporters to see?
Posted by: David at September 12, 2005 12:45 PM
