Monday 6 April 2009

US lifts picture ban on war coffins

A new policy allowing press photographers to cover the ceremonial return of U.S. military personnel killed in action comes into effect today, Editor & Publisher reports.
The policy change was announced in February by Defense Secretary Robert Gates. Under the previous policy, press were not allowed to cover the returns of fallen soldiers and Marines at Dover Air Force Base’s Charles C. Carson Center for Mortuary Affairs.
The Dover, Delaware, base houses the military's only such facility in North America. Since the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, only a few photos have surfaced of the flag-draped coffins of U.S. service members.
The new policy requires family consent. It also specifies that photographers must use only ambient light.

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