Madison media and the big chill

TORONTO – Taking a step back, one of my biggest concerns about the whole Mohammad cartoon controversy was that those newspapers that elected to not step up to the plate and share newsworthy images with their readership might experience a certain chilling effect of sorts. To wit, I have to wonder what sort of slippery slope has been engaged here – will it be images offensive to another religious group that are censored next, or an article defaming to a political interest group, or photos that are too stark to go over lightly with a queasy readership?

Yesterday morning, the Wisconsin State Journal published a front page photo of a dead Iraqi child. Now, in the interest of full disclosure, I have spent the past couple of days traveling through rural Ontario and, as such, did not see Monday's edition of the Madison paper.

But thanks to an interesting forum post by Tim Kelley, the paper's managing editor and a man whom I admire greatly, I see where the publication's editors were coming from:

We're aware that closeups of dead bodies on our front page are taboo to some readers and a shock to many others. We use such pictures sparingly and with readers' reaction in mind.

It shouldn't surprise anyone that graphic depictions of the civilian bloodshed in Iraq move across our wires everyday. Most of the time, we take a pass; the images aren't necessary to telling the story. But in this case, we decided the photo captured the truth of the situation in a way that accompanying story alone could not.

I applaud Mr. Kelley for engaging his readership in such a straightforward manner and, while I disagree with the underlying message, I applaud the State Journal for not hesitating to share what its editors perceived to be a necessarily powerful image.

I am just struck that this newspaper in particular would do so now and not a month ago. Is this really so different than the infamous Danish cartoons? Or was this merely a “less risky” image to share, albeit a still controversial one at that?

It is sad that questions like this come to mind, much less have to be asked. But in wake of so many American newspapers abandoning the principles of a free press and cowering at a certain faction's demands, inquiries into matters of hypocrisy will neither start nor end with front page photos of dead children.

There has been a chilling effect, whether anyone cares to note it or not, and so long as newspapers feel obligated to explain what were once commonsense editorial decisions, the brutal wake of the Mohammad cartoons will continue to be felt throughout the American media.