Satyam at Think Progress notes a new bill introduced by Republican Congressman Walter Jones, a former Iraq war supporter, that would require the Department of Defense to allow media access to ceremonies honoring military fallen military personnel. This is likely to frustrate war supporters whose case is best made by limiting knowledge of the costs of the conflict. They may argue that such access violates the privacy of the fallen, but it's important to understand that the bill only gives access to media at ceremonies and memorial services conducted by the Armed Forces, it doesn't force families to let reporters into their funerals.
The bill states: "The Secretary of Defense shall grant access to accredited members of the media at military commemoration ceremonies and memorial services conducted by the Armed Forces for members of the Armed Forces who have died on active duty and when the remains of members of the Armed Forces arrive at military installations in the United States." It was referred to the Committee on Armed Services.
There was a debate in the aftermath of 9/11 about whether or not certain kinds of journalism, especially photographs, somehow violated the dignity of the dead. People are likely to oppose the publication of certain images or stories on the grounds of "privacy" or "respecting the dead" if they see such things as negatively impacting their agenda.
But political activists on both sides of the debate use graphic images and particular stories to rally support, whether it's anti-choice activists using photographs of dead fetuses or Michael Moore using video of dead American soldiers in Iraq, and opposition to their use is often a matter of how such things might help or hinder one's cause. The question to ask is not whether Jones has a political agenda, but whether giving journalists access to military ceremonies for the fallen fulfills a compelling public interest. I think it's basically impossible to argue that the public doesn't have an interest in understanding the real costs of war.
-- A. Serwer
