Picture of war

An Associated Press photograph of a mortally wounded Marine in Afghanistan has raised old questions about the appropriateness of publishing photos of American soldiers who are dead or dying.

The picture, taken by AP photographer Julie Jacobson, shows two Marines tending to Lance Cpl. Joshua Bernard after he was hit in the legs by a rocket-propelled grenade. Bernard later died during surgery.

Jacobson said this to Editor and Publisher:

To ignore a moment like that simply ... would have been wrong. I was recording his impending death, just as I had recorded his life moments before walking the point in the bazaar ... Death is a part of life and most certainly a part of war. Isn't that why we're here? To document for now and for history the events of this war?

Editor and Publisher did a quick survey of the papers that did, and did not, publish the photo.

InDenver Times, the successor to the Rocky Mountain News, did not run the photo and explains why here.

The New York Times ran the photo on its Lens blog and explains why here.

The photo can be seen here.

Trying again in Denver

Another post-Rocky Mountain News publication is ready for launch.

The Rocky Mountain Independent, a daily web magazine run by former RMN staff, will make its debut Monday in the Mile High City. The site has enough money to last three months as it prepares a business plan and seeks out advertisers, Independent editors told the Associated Press.

Some of the same staff was involved with the failed InDenver Times, which stalled out in April.

Plans for Denver news site stall

Efforts to launch InDenver Times, an online news site that would be staffed by former employees of the Rocky Mountain News, appear to have stalled after prospective financial backers walked away from negotiations. The Denver Post reports that "employees want to go on with the site and will search for new backers," although they've dropped the awkward name. According to the story, investors felt a staff of 30 was just too large. (Denver Post via Romenesko)