A Letter to the Press Corps

Re(1): 'Et Tu, Press Corps?', Extreme Mortman

A post at Extreme Mortman provided access to a petulant letter submitted by the print media regarding the exemption of still photographer access to the President during the January 10, 2007 Presidential Speech. My God, the still photographers were unable to snap three thousand photos and pick a chimpy image of our President during a wartime speech on wartime strategy. Here is a response to Tom - who seems to be a decent and professional still photographer for the media:

Tom,

Tell me again, why as a citizen of the United States of America - during wartime (and I know most of your profession does not think we are at war) - I am forced to place into history another photo selected by a childish press corps that tries to outdo each other in the picking of smirks and pursed lips of a leader at war.

This was a serious speech at a serious time.

While the still photographers might be serious people - but, that seems to be in question as well - your editors are not serious people.

Would the WWII press corps select an especially weak and powerless image of President Roosevelt after Rommel crushed the United States at the Kasserine Pass? The press corps at that time was mature enough not too. Please claim they did not have those photos. How about those photos of Nimitz, Stimson, or Roosevelt after Pearl Harbor. Where are the peoples’ photos during the months of stalemate following D-Day – or maybe even some doubting and worried images in the NYT during D-Day? Not on the cover of the NYT or the Left Angeles Times.

Regretfully, your profession has lost the confidence of the American people.

That, by the way, is a very bad thing.

I do not like or enjoy it.

But, it is true.

Deal with it… I was hoping the embed process would initiate younger journalist into the fog of war and into the righteousness of this conflict. I was hoping the young embeds, as they migrated back into the stateside newsrooms, would add balance, common sense, and an understanding that we are doing the right thing. That they could battle the old War Horse Vietnam Cadre Press Corps that denigrates anything they touch. Regretfully, the American people lost that battle. But, as you can see, the American people are not losing the war. We are ignoring you. We are seeking information from other sources. We no longer care about your privileges and pompous demands. It is not you that is being denigrated; it
is the other 90% of your profession that is being trashed. Your profession is seen as no better than biased bloggers – but at least the bloggers note their biases.

You still have time to turn this around, can you see what you have to do.

Sorry.