Dead Iraqi Soldier, Ken Jarecke (photograph): Difference between revisions

|description_of_incident=When the image reached the New York offices of the Associated Press, the image was deemed too graphic for distribution. It was pulled from the wire.

|description_of_result=The image did not appear in mainstream United States media. Because it was censored by the Associated Press before distribution, it was not released to newspaper editors and individual papers were not given the opportunity to use their own discretion on whether or not to publish it. It was published only by the London Observer, where it generated considerable controversy.

|source=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/4528745.stm

}}

Jarecke was quoted as saying "If I don't make pictures like this, people like my mother will think what they see in war is what they see in movies." This underscores the importance of graphic war photography. Much of the Gulf War imagery which was accessible to the public consisted of video footage from bomb-dropping planes. It visually reduced the conflict to the level of a video game, allowing the public to feel disconnected from the violence. Jarecke's image was a rare example of a boots-on-the-ground photojournalism, demonstrating the fact that these bombs were being dropped on actual human beings, not arbitrary targets in a game.