CNN Gets Graphic In Myanmar With Footage Of Dead Bodies (GRAPHIC)

In Monday afternoon's coverage of last week's cyclone in Myanmar, CNN took the rare step of showing dead bodies — both human and animal — on the screen. A spokesperson said that "the enormity of the story" merited showing corpses, and the anchor did warn that the footage was graphic and disturbing. It is nevertheless a rare occasion when American media show dead human bodies. The spokesperson told the Huffington Post that Hurricane Katrina and the Southeast Asian tsunami in 2005 were both enormous enough to merit graphic footage of dead bodies as well.

Watch (warning: graphic):

Comments

[tsloan]

these people have been exploited enough.....

[Jasel]

I kind of wonder why the media is always willing to show devastated and dead people living in third world countries but they won't ever show dead Americans in our recent spat of natural disasters or American soldiers who are killed in Iraq. Or why you see more American tourists and businessmen doing the majority of the talking in these situations and not the victims, politicians, or locals.

[drblack]

This is reality and the US public needs a dose of it everyday.
People need to see death and suffering, especially in Iraq where our US tax dollars are causing so much of it.
Anyone who thinks showing reality on TV news is bad is nasty. Stop avoiding reality. Everyone needs to see the truth.
After the battle of Fallujah why didn't the news show the children with the white phosphorus burns and the missing limbs?
If you don't have the stomach for seeing the results of war and reality please don't vote.
The biggest piece of propaganda in the US is what we don't see.
What would these loud mouth right wingers do if they were plopped down into a territory in Iraq after the US bombed it...would they feel anything at the death, the orphaned children etc?...

[Moxo]

As long as the dead are not our Iraq war civilian 'collateral damage' dead, then they are okay to show??

[berensma]

Did anyone else look at those bodies along the river, there for 9 days already, and who knows how much longer and think "massive cholera epidemic"? This seems to be a part of the story that CNN missed.

[sher2x4]

The pictures are horrible.
My stomach got all knotted up.
I felt like throwing up.
Did CNN do anything wrong, no.

[bendi67]

So when is CNN gonna decide to show us pictures of dead iraqi children and old folks? What about showing the flag drapped cofins of our soldiers coming from bush's meat grinder?Where was CNN during Katrina when junior bush left corpses of dead americans on the street of a major american city to be eaten by dogs and rats?

[GeorgeKaplan]

The news is sanitized for you protection. Sometimes it's not bad thing to show a little "reality." It took almost 50 years for someone to show the dead soldiers of WW2. But, the situation in Myanmar is so horrible that if those images can stir up a little world indignation so be it. And someone needs to get the President his DVD of the news - and make him watch it.

[ecotopian]

The cynicism of these posts astonishes me, and I consider myself a first rate cynic. Try to put your pampered selves in the place of those folks. Try to imagine bodies floating past you...everyday.

Wasn't today a wonderful day? As you read this, you have a full belly and a solid roof over your head. As you go to sleep, think of these people and the fact they have no food, no shelter and another storm is on the way.

[gaurev]

The press needs to be accountable in terms of having a uniform standard for reporting. The public should not allow the media to get away with spinning stories toward a particular political agenda or viewpoint. If showing dead humans in the media is acceptable because it is the "truth", then the same yardstick needs to be applied to all events that have death, destruction, & human tragedy. This means the Iraq war, Arab-Israeli conflict, domestic violence, police shootings, etc. Both sides should be shown whether the casualty is Arab or Israeli, American soldier or Iraqi, etc.
What we need to realize is that the media DOES spin issues and uses selective standards (of showing dead bodies in this case) to further their master's political agenda.
Any think individual should challenge this type of biased media reporting and insist on more truthful reporting. My opinion is that bodies should not be censored out of reports where there is tragedy. War, famine, natural disaster, crime, human rights abuse by police & governments should be shown in their entirety, so that people can better understand how terrible and horrendous some of these events are. Why should we accept whitewashed versions of war, disasters, etc.?The media wants to minimize the viewers emotional response. There is no other reason plain and simple. It has nothing to do with 'dignity' or 'not appropriate' , or 'disrespectful'. These are just excuses to limit the publics access to information.

[fishsandwichesr2good]

"Uniform standard"?! Who sets the standard? The press is under no obligation to provide you everything you want in the manner you want it. That's why they are a "free" press which means they have freedom to choose what they do and don't report and how. You in turn are free to listen/watch/read or not. That's the accountability you're looking for -- the system is already in place. Use it.

[praxitas]

the airwaves are publicly owned and the broadcast media are not unaccountable in the same sense as the print media. there are responsibilities that come with the priviliedge of holding a broadcast license that extend beyond a simple 'like it or lump it'' response to complaints about how the access to this limited resource is used.

[DemSkeptic]

Its a very tragic occurence. However, I feel compelled to point out that the tragedy of death and the pictures that convey the horror are only shown when covering a natural disaster. Wheras man-made horrar is not "enormous" enough? When people see no images of the true impact of war, are we surprised that Bush got reelected? If graphic images of the dead are suitable for the American people to watch and feel terrible and sad and touched by our common humanity and appreciate the horror of it all, Shouldn't we see the horrific pictures of war? You know, a source of misery that we (in theory) can do something to prevent!!!!

[MissingAmerica]

The truth, the reality, is always painful. My heart goes out to these people and I still think back to the pictures out of New Orleans. Again, corruption has continued to keep that area from rebuilding. Sometimes, it's hard to tell the players without a scorecard. My heart and prayers go out to all who are suffering these and other horrendous disasters.

[whiteboyblues]

I hope they didn't show this footage at a restaurant or perhaps a kid friendly restaurant. . . That's when I pull out the ol' TV-B-Gone!

[NicoleAnonymous]

Although I don't think people should hide pictures of the carnage, I feel as though HP is only putting this here to get more pageviews because people might click on it just to see the pictures.

[aristippe]

The only reason HP puts anything up on their website is to get pageviews.

[InofTouch]

If that the cause then it kinda questions there motives