For Immediate Release
March 2, 2009
Contact:
Barbara Ayotte, Director of Communications
617.549.0152
bayotte@socialdocumentary.net
SocialDocumentary.net Applauds Pentagon Policy Overturning Photo Ban on Coffins of Returning Fallen Soldiers
SocialDocumentary.net, (SDN) a website for documentary photography from around the world, applauds the new Pentagon policy, announced last week, that lifts the ban on photographs of coffins returning from the battlefield, provided the surviving families give consent.
"The ban amounted to government censorship of the media and denial of vital public information to the American public. It is the public's right and responsibility to see these images and learn about the consequences of military actions," said Glenn Ruga, SDN founder. "These images, if done respectfully, only add to documenting the honor of the soldiers and their ultimate sacrifice. The photographs also ensure that there is transparency in government and visual information available on casualties from war to inform future generations."
In 1991, during the Persian Gulf War, President George H.W. Bush instituted the ban on allowing photographs of coffins returning from war. The ban has stayed in effect until last week
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