7 of Top 20 Papers Published Front-Page Fallujah Body Photos

By: Charles Geraci In a survey of the 20 highest circulating newspapers, E&P found today that the majority decided against publishing front-page graphic images of the bodies of charred Americans killed yesterday in the Iraqi town of Fallujah.

Only seven of the 20 highest circulating papers chose to display photos of the bodies on their front pages. Five of these (Chicago Tribune, New York Post, The New York Times, The Philadelphia Inquirer, and San Francisco Chronicle) ran a photo of Iraqis chanting anti-American slogans as two charred American bodies hung from a bridge over the Euphrates River. Arguably, the most graphic front-page images were shown by The Washington Post and USA Today. Both displayed Iraqis taking turns beating the burned corpses with shoes.

But most of the 20 highest circulating papers took a more restrained approach. Eight of these (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; The Boston Globe; Chicago Sun-Times; The Dallas Morning News; Houston Chronicle; Newsday of Melville, N.Y.; The Plain Dealer of Cleveland; and The Star-Ledger of Newark, N.J.) opted for a photo of a burning SUV used by American contractors, surrounded by a cheering mob of Iraqis, and a boy holding a leaflet reading, "Fallujah is the graveyard of Americans."

The New York Daily News used a different photo of Iraqis beating an SUV. The Arizona Republic of Phoenix showed Iraqis dancing in front of a burning car, while the Los Angeles Times showed Iraqis dancing atop an already burned vehicle.

Some of these papers opted to run the more graphic photos on inside pages.

Outside of the top 20 newspapers, many smaller publications ran photos featuring a charred body or bodies on their front pages, including The Buffalo (N.Y.) News, The Charlotte (N.C.) Observer, The Miami Herald, the Los Angeles Daily News, the Detroit Free Press, The Post and Courier of Charleston, S.C.; The San Diego Union-Tribune; the St. Louis Post Dispatch; The Sun of Baltimore; and The Tampa (Fla.) Tribune.

Iraqi insurgents attacked and killed four American contractors yesterday by assaulting two civilian vehicles with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades. Crowds dragged the burned, mutilated bodies through the streets of Fallujah in some of the worst violence since the beginning of the American occupation a year ago.