Canadians opened their newspapers yesterday morning to front-page pictures of the U.S. soldiers captured by the Iraqis.
That wasn't the case in the United States. Some publications carried the photographs, but many did not. The New York Times took a pass and so did the tabloid The New York Post, which opted instead for a Page 1 picture of a grinning Iraqi sitting on top of a dead American soldier.
Elsewhere, newspapers in Miami, Philadelphia and San Jose, Calif., ran the PoW pictures. In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, The Dallas Morning News chose not to publish them. The Fort Worth Star-Telegram did, carrying head-and-shoulder shots of the five PoWs on the front page.
Rex Seline, the Star-Telegram's managing editor for news, said using the photos, which were taken from Al-Jazeera videotape, was not a difficult decision.
"We thought, because of the news value, the condition of the prisoners would be of interest to our readers," he said, "and we considered that an important part of the story."
Some argued against publishing until families of the PoWs were notified. But even without the assurance that families had been told, Mr. Seline said he probably would have used the pictures.
"Clearly, this is war," he said. "We're talking about one of the ugly sides of war and our job is to report the truth."
The New York Times took a much more cautious, perhaps even timid, position. Catherine Mathis, a Times spokeswoman, said the newspaper was concerned about two issues.
"We decided not to publish the photos of captured U.S. soldiers because there were unanswered questions related to the conditions under which the photos were taken and the identities of the soldiers," she said. "Under the circumstances, we did not believe we could responsibly publish them."
And what were the questions related to conditions (aside from the fact the conditions were obviously horrific for the PoWs)? The Times editors did not apprise Ms. Mathis.
Mr. Seline felt publishing the photos served a purpose not related to journalism.
"I can remember hearing during the Vietnam War of prisoners who said they tried to get in these photos, because it helped assure they would survive," he said. "If they were anonymous, they could die or be killed. But with their faces out there, there was a reduced chance."
Odai Sirri, an Al-Jazeera journalist, said the feeling at the Arabic satellite news channel is that the American news organizations rolled over for the U.S. military. Not only did newspapers reject the photos, but most U.S. television networks passed on airing the images of the PoWs.
As the distributors of the information or propaganda that both sides are attempting to get out, the news media in this war are clearly under pressure. "Journalists are very important to both sides because this a psychological war," Mr. Sirri said. "The Americans and Iraqis are trying to use us."
Al-Jazeera is accused of slanting its coverage in favour of the Iraqis, but Mr. Sirri feels the U.S. media is applying a double standard: It's acceptable to parade Iraqi prisoners in front of the cameras, but not Americans.
Were the U.S. newspapers that chose not to publish the photos making a responsible decision? After all, families had been notified by the time the Monday editions rolled off the presses. The pictures were already on the Al-Jazeera Web site. Weren't readers entitled to get the complete picture of the war?
The Pentagon didn't think so. On Sunday, after the U.S. Central Command condemned the Al-Jazeera tape, the Pentagon asked news organizations to hold off because the video showed the captured U.S. soldiers being humiliated. The Pentagon also argued that the footage contravened the Geneva Conventions, because it had been shot by Iraqi state television and then given to Al-Jazeera.
"It's a tough call," said Nancy Bobrowitz, senior vice-president for Reuters News Agency, which distributes war photos. "Our view is you can't have hard and fast rules. You have to look at each situation case by case."
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