AP Photo releasing of Dying Marine was Improper

By Larry Stimeling, Staff Writer 

The Associated Press (AP) released a photo of an injured Marine  being treated by fellow Marines in Afghanistan. This move by the AP was improper, insensitive and just plain WRONG.

As Lance Corporal Joshua Bernard lay dying from injuries suffered in an attack by Taliban Forces using a Rocket Propelled Grenade, the AP photographer stood off in the distance snapping pictures for monetary gain.  Julie Jacobson,

the AP photographer, had accompanied the Marines on patrol in Helmand Province when the patrol was attacked. Lance Corporal Joshua Bernard a 21 year-old Marine from New Portland, Maine was wounded in the attack. He was transported to a field Hospital where he died of his wounds.

The AP waited until after Bernard was buried to release the photos. Their gesture of being considerate of the family of Lance Corporal Bernard. The AP should not have released that photo. NO ONE needs to see the picture of a dying Marine, especially one as graphic as this one.

"AP journalists document world events every day. Afghanistan is no exception. We feel it is our journalistic duty to show the reality of the war there, however unpleasant and brutal that sometimes is," said Santiago Lyon, the director of photography for AP.

The American public knows the reality of war. It knows that war is brutal and unpleasant. The statistics of American military personnel killed and wounded is a stark reminder of that brutality. Photographic evidence is not needed. This photo is just what the media bases its survival on…… SENSATIONALISM.

The same sensationalism that brought us photos of the little Vietnamese girl fleeing a burning village during the Vietnam War. These images have a purpose and that is to turn American sentiment against the war no matter what the reason for the war. http://nam-vet.net/photosthatchange.htm

Irronically Ms. Jacobson had another picture of Lance Corporal Bernard that should have been released. One of him bravely out on patrol doing exactly what we expect our Marines to do. Put his life on the line in service to outr country. This photo is no where near as sensational as the one the AP release of Bernard dying. However with the proper caption it would tell the same story. A brave Marine out on patrol just minutes before he is killed by enemy forces.

This being America, where the AP has the freedom to release the graphic insensitive photo of Lance Corporal Bernard, they have exercised their right even if it is WRONG!