Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Repression

The feds, with too much too late, are now occupying nearly every inch of NO and are tightly controlling the media, prohibiting, for example, photos of dead bodies. This is a typical move of a repressive government. Even the traditionally responsible Josh Marshall says so

Take a moment to note what's happening here: these are the marks of repressive government, which mixes inefficiency with authoritarianism. The crew that couldn't get key aid on the scene last week is coming in in force now and taking as one of its key missions cutting public information about what's happening in the city.

This is a domestic, natural disaster. Absent specific cases where members of the press would interfere or get in the way of some particular clean up operation or perhaps demolition work there is simply no reason why credentialed members of the press should not be able to cover everything that is happening in that city.

Think about it.

Talking Points Memo

No comments: