No Media at Repatriation of Fallen

[GK .Dundas]

Mudeater,
While not disagreeing with you I just have one question ,who does the media answer to?

 

[Fishbone Jones]

........and if it was fair, unbiased reporting. Which is very seldom seen in today's media.

 

[mudeater]

There are many agencies where the public can file complaints about the media like the Press Council or CRTC, media are governed by the civil laws of libel and slander which can result in a lawsuit if not followed. But is Western media strongly regulated - no. If it is you erode freedom of the press - a foundation of deomcractic freedom.

 

[the 48th regulator]

There are many agencies where the public can file complaints about the media like the Press Council or CRTC, media are governed by the civil laws of libel and slander which can result in a lawsuit if not followed. But is Western media strongly regulated - no. If it is you erode freedom of the press - a foundation of deomcractic freedom.

Then I will assume that you are preparing a very good piece that will be published on November 11th dedicated to those that have fallen, correct?

Or will this all be forgotten by then?  Read my challenge and step up to the plate.

dileas

tess

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

Quote from Mudeater,
As a CF member, if I was killed on tour I would want my return home covered in the media. I would have given the ultimate sacrifice for my country and I would want that shared with the nation who I gave my life for.

Which of course is your wish, however at the risk of going over the line here, you would be deceased and maybe those who must now carry the burdens of losing a loved one do not want to have their private moments posted for the world to see.

The CBC reporter on site last night had one good line that I thought stuck out...."now that the soldiers have been repatriated, the families can decide how public or private they wish their memorial services to be"..............and of course Mansbridge didn't get it. :

 

[clasper]

Here's a thought for you media types.

Instead of asking Joe and Jane Canadian, the local "used-to-be-in-power" Liberal backbencher, or some left wing university students who can't find Kanadahar on a map, why not ask US, the serving members of the CF, how we'd like to be remembered.

After all, it's our memories you claim are being disgraced in your haste to trample on tradition..

And the CBC has asked...

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/04/26/soldiers-return-media060426.html

Serving soldiers say arrival of bodies should be private
Last Updated Wed, 26 Apr 2006 08:16:11 EDT
CBC News
Many Canadian soldiers serving in Afghanistan agree with the Conservative government's decision to ban media coverage of ceremonies marking the arrival in Canada of the remains of soldiers killed in foreign action.

"When troops come home, I believe that's a family matter. I mean, it's a pretty sad time for all family, and I think it should be kept private," Cpl. Darrin Fudge said in an interview with CBC News in Kandahar.

"I don't think everyone else in the world should know what that family is going through."

On Tuesday, reporters were kept away as coffins containing the bodies of four soldiers were unloaded from a Hercules transport plane in Trenton, Ont.

The media ban prompted protests from federal opposition politicians, as well as from some relatives of past military casualties and members of the public. They felt it was appropriate to pay public tribute to those who had made the ultimate sacrifice for their country.

FROM APRIL 25, 2006: Harper on defensive over media ban on return of dead soldiers
But many of soldiers interviewed by CBC News in Afghanistan said Prime Minister Stephen Harper's decision was the right one, given the emotions relatives must be experiencing.

Some acknowledged they had mixed feelings, though.

"In some ways, it would be good for the general public to see. It would give them an idea of what's going on over here," said Master Cpl. Chris Schmidt.

"However, I don't know if I'd necessarily want everyone to see what my family is going through if it was me coming back in that type of plane."

He also noted that since the military is a very big but close-knit family, seeing the ceremony on television might help soldiers throughout Canada deal with the deaths of their comrades.

"There's guys back home that knew these guys," Schmidt said. "Maybe that's the only way they'll be able to actually get any type of closure too."

Cpl. Matthew Dinning, Bombardier Myles Mansell, Lieut. William Turner and Cpl. Randy Payne were killed by a roadside bomb in Afghanistan last weekend.

A memorial ceremony held for them on the tarmac of the Kandahar airfield was covered by the media, with the government's approval.

Fifteen Canadian soldiers and one Canadian diplomat have been killed in Afghanistan since 2002.

 

[Haggis]

And the CBC has asked...

http://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/2006/04/26/soldiers-return-media060426.html

So has CANOE: http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2006/04/25/1549972-cp.html

Finally someone listens to me!  (I'd better tell my wife. )

 

[mudeater]

Actually I won a national newspaper award for a Nov. 11 story I wrote about Ernie Scale who was injured in combat on Juno Beach on D-Day. I did a story in November about the head Canadian engineer in A-Stan who oversaw the construction of the camp, and I also wrote a story years ago about the LT who lead the boarding party on the ship Katie to get back all of the CF Equipment. I also have done numerous stories on reservists who go to Stalwart Guardian. My employer has also been recognized by the CFLC for its support of the CF.

 

[fongs]

Seems to me that our Prime Minister has no problem having a photo-op with our serving soldiers in Afghanistan.
But when a few come home in a pine box, he's nowhere to be found  :

Political bull%$ !

 

[George Wallace]

fongs

You have just entered our RADAR and WATCH LIST.  You make this type of statement and then run.  Is this a "Hit and Run" tactic from one of our favourite Left Leaning Types or a concerned member?  We shall soon see.

 

[Blakey]

Interesting, army.ca in the news again.
Full story> http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/499329.html

An army spokesman said there is no plan to shut down the access of journalists to the departure ceremony The vast majority of posts army.ca, a popular military forum, indicate that many veterans and members of the Forces on also supported denying media access to the ceremonies

""The less life-sucking media that is around to film the family’s grief for a 6 o’clock news bite, the better," wrote someone using the handle Piper.

 

[George Wallace]

Piper

Please stand up and take a bow.

You are now a media star.

;D

 

[Bograt]

I went to the local greasy spoon for lunch this afternoon. I was wearing my flying kit. There isn't a big military footprint in Corner Brook- (militia unit and a recruiting centre), but many people have family who are serving.

While standing in line I was asked by a older lady what I thought of the debate concerning repatriation and the flag. When she asked the restaurant got quiet. I guess it was the subject of the morning on the local call in show.

I said, " Ma'am, do you have any grandchildren?"
She replied Yes, 4".
I then asked, "Would you want their grieving faces on the six o'clock news if something tragic happened to you? The men and women who gave their life paid the ultimate price, they don't owe us anything more."

She bought me a coffee.

 

[Michael Dorosh]

Seems to me that our Prime Minister has no problem having a photo-op with our serving soldiers in Afghanistan.
But when a few come home in a pine box, he's nowhere to be found  :

Political bull%$ !

The caskets are metal, firstly. Secondly, it's not his job to drop everything and greet returning soldiers. I'm hoping he has better things to do than photo ops. I'd also categorize his trip to Afghanistan as something other than a photo op, but of course, I don't have intimate details of his agenda. I do have friends of friends who were photographed with him "over there" and it seems he had opportunity to talk to a wide variety of people, presumably about our mission there.

 

[Brad Sallows]

Two issues have come to a head.

The first is a question of which flags should be flown at half-staff, and when.

The second is a question of media access to families during repatriation of the fallen.

These are simple questions to resolve, really, and have been simply resolved.  One is a matter of protocol and tradition, and the other is a matter of erring on the side of caution - we don't know which families or members of families do or do not want their grief shared publicly, so we elect to minimize the disruptions.  Contrary to some earlier comments in this thread, I do not see media access to funeral proceedings as an issue of watchdogging democracy (go bury your head in government records if your noble aim is to enlighten me on the doings of government), I see it as an issue of personal (family) privacy.

If you wish to make the argument that the Peace Tower flag might and should be flown at half-staff to honour a particular person, then make that argument on its merits.

If you wish to argue that media might and should be permitted closer access to grieving families - with the permission of the families - to help the public respect the families' fallen, then make that argument on its merits.

But if your wish is to score political points - comparing Harper to Bush, contrasting Canadian policies with American policies, reminding us of other grievances the media holds against the government, discussing the leadership style of the government, speculating that we are being prepared for involvement in Iraq or elsewhere, calling people puerile names, invoking past tawdry debates on these issues, sensationalizing whatever you think will sell papers or gain viewership, or wedging in any other issue not pertinent to the question of honouring and respecting the fallen - then please have the decency and integrity to not cloak your self-serving behaviour with a facade of solemn respect.  And if you've included those "arguments" in your missives and articles and editorials and rants, we know where you stand, what is important to you, and what the fallen mean to you.

 

[George Wallace]

Let's keep these two issues seperate for now.  There is a Topic that is covering the Half-masting of the Flag already:  http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/42481.0.html
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/42481/post-371644.html#msg371644

 

[Kirkhill]

George and Blakey:

Just to note that the same article that quoted Piper also quoted Military Granny and Bart Nikodem.

 

[military granny]

Guys and Gals this is getting crazy.
This line was under the headline Caucus rebels against Harper media ban
Tory MP Inky Mark said he didn't believe the explanation by Harper and Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor that the media should be barred from CFB Trenton, Ont., to respect the privacy of grieving military families.

"Don't believe the government," Mark said. "I believe that media should have access to all public events."

Now can anyone of you tell me just when did a repatriation become a public event ? I always thought when they brought a family member home it was a private moment for the families to say their hellos and goodbyes without millions of people watching.

 

[fongs]

The caskets are metal, firstly. Secondly, it's not his job to drop everything and greet returning soldiers. I'm hoping he has better things to do than photo ops. I'd also categorize his trip to Afghanistan as something other than a photo op, but of course, I don't have intimate details of his agenda. I do have friends of friends who were photographed with him "over there" and it seems he had opportunity to talk to a wide variety of people, presumably about our mission there.

First - It's a figment of speach "A Pine Box" I know the caskets are metal.
Second - What can be more important than representing the whole Country as our leader, and being there when the %$% plane arrives....
OH, I forgot that wouldn't look all that %$% great, a photo of himself beside a casket.
I suppose it's damed if you do, or damed if you don't.
However, the public won't remember this come next election :

I'm not a Liberal, Conservative or NDP supporter........I'm a CANADIAN and that flag on parliment hill doesn't belong to the politicians inside that building, it belongs to every person in this Country. If someone wants to fly it at half #$%$ mass because they want to show some repect to a fallen soldier, cop, firefighter that gave his life for this country, I see no reason or right you have to stop him.

 

[Kirkhill]

fongs:

For the military a flag is a rallying point. Traditionally it is where a soldier looked to find order, authority and family on crowded, noisy battlefields filled with dead and dying.  The flag was not dipped while the enemy was engaged.  Dipping the flag would be taken as a sign of defeat or surrender by both friend and foe.

Flags may be dipped in secure environments to honour individuals and I am all for that.  I will also grant that the Peace Tower is a secure environment.  However in the battle of symbols I will argue that on the Peace Tower, as long as our troops are engaged,  that flag must remain undipped.  At full-staff it offers comfort to the troops.  In any other condition it offers comfort to the enemy.

Cheers.