FYI

Sometimes Salon (www.salon.com)does an interesting article or two. Today it was pictures. They aren't really for the faint of heart. Okay, they aren't for the faint of heart at ALL -- they're pretty gory shots of the war in Iraq. I always wondered what happened to a suicide bomber. There's a picture of that. It pretty much makes sense -- there's a severed head, eyes opened, laying on top of a pile of insides with a leg and an arm sticking out. Like his middle exploded and his head and arms and legs fell to the ground.

On some level looking at pictures like that is for me the rubbernecking syndrome. On another level it is about realizing what war and what is happening in Iraq is really all about. Which is how Salon positions it -- it's a very liberal take on things (and I'm a liberal) -- the whole human face of war thing -- and I do think that it's important on some level to have unsanitized pictures like these available. But I don't know that I agree entirely with couching it in this sort of language: "The grim reality of Iraq rarely appears in the American press. This photo gallery reveals the war's horrible human toll." I agree that the gallery does this. I also think it stirs up controversy which increases site visits which increases advertising. And I think Salon has to be aware of this.

I read an interesting bit awhile back about a j-school prof who wasn't sure how much about what journalism has shifted towards now -- profits above all else -- he should tell his students. At some level nearly everything in the US is a commodity, something to be bought and sold, yes? I just wish we could all be a little more up front about that.