Blog

Obama administration criticized for Dover photo

When the remains of 30 soldiers killed in a recent helicopter crash in Afghanistan were scheduled for transfer at Dover, 19 of the families objected to media coverage of the ceremony.

Last week saw the first high-profile invocation of the military's revised policy regarding coverage of repatriation ceremonies at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware. The media was barred from reporting on the events until 2009, when the policy was revised to allow coverage — including photographs of returning caskets — unless family members objected. When the remains of 30 soldiers killed in a recent helicopter crash in Afghanistan were scheduled for transfer at Dover, 19 of the families objected to media coverage of the ceremony. So the media was completely excluded from the event. Nevertheless, the White House distributed a photo of President Obama saluting the caskets. Several media outlets, including the Associated Press, refused to use or distribute the photo, arguing that they should have had access to the ceremony on the condition that the caskets would not be photographed.

Archive

Contributors