As Romenesko noted today, ABC Nightline With Ted Koppel on Friday will devote its entire program to reading the names (and showing photographs) of the more than 700 American military personnel killed in the war in Iraq. (TV Barn has the scoop.) That makes me wonder why more U.S. newspapers and their websites aren’t pulling out the stops to profile the growing number of dead soldiers. You’ll remember that after September 11, 2001, the New York Times wrote obituaries of all the victims of the terrorist attacks for its “Portraits of Grief” feature. Online, it made for a wonderfully poignant and powerful tribute to the lost lives. Isn’t it about time to make note in a similarly significant way the loss of so many American individuals in Iraq? It might help answer the criticism that the press too often treats Iraq casualties as statistics, not human beings.
Honoring the Dead
