Since President Barack Obama decided that the pictures of Osama Bin Laden were “too gruesome to make public, lest they inflame violence or be used as anti-U.S. propaganda,” it will be up to journalists to force the U.S. Government under the Freedom of Information Act, an Act which many of us Media Studies majors are familiar with. The Associated Press has already taken it upon themselves to file a Freedom of Information Act for a pile of Bin Laden dead body-related media being held by the government, which, if granted by the courts, could require the info to be made public.
It won't work against the White House is exempt from FOIA, so the law wouldn’t apply if the images are controlled there. The CIA, which had operational control of the mission, and Defense Department can use a series of exemptions from the act to block the release of the images.
The government has 20 days to responds to FOIA request to the release of the images.
While I wouldn't mind seeing the images as assurance that he is dead and as a type of justice for 9-11, I do understand why the government wishes to not release them. While I am involved in the media field, sometimes I think media people thing they are entitled to everything. No one has any privacy to them and you see that a lot with celebrities and that paparazzi, they are very intrusive.
ReplyDeleteInteresting...I think human curiosity tends to get the best of most of us and we want to see everything. I understand that Obama is trying to protect the country. However, eventually the pictures will be leaked. Journalists are good at what they do. It's inevitable.
ReplyDelete