Aftermath: “Our Role Is To Show The Reality,” Including Dead Bodies

The decision to show corpses on the streets of New Orleans is journalistically sound, Joanne Ostrow writes this morning. “Transfixed and traumatized, we await the visuals that may drive us from the screen even as we are compelled to watch.” Quotes, including possibly the first Klein comment about the hurricane:

> “None of our people have encountered” the censorship, CNN President Jonathan Klein says. The pictures are vital: “As they drain the city you’re going to see things that are very tough.”

> “Our role is to show the reality,” said MSNBC executive Mark Effron. “We are showing bodies but not in close-ups. Our correspondents and videographers have conveyed the sense of horror without close-ups.”