BREATHTAKING MEDIA ARROGANCE - AT 5:40 P.M. ET:  I still consider myself a member of the profession of journalism, but I'm often embarrassed to be part of it. 

Today, Secretary of Defense Gates properly reprimanded the Associated Press for its arrogant, self-righteous publication of a photo of a dying Marine, despite the specific request of the family that it not be published:

Defense Secretary Robert Gates is objecting “in the strongest terms” to an Associated Press decision to transmit a photograph showing a mortally wounded 21-year-old Marine in his final moments of life, calling the decision “appalling” and a breach of “common decency.”

The AP reported that the Marine’s father had asked – in an interview and in a follow-up phone call — that the image, taken by an embedded photographer, not be published.

The AP reported in a story that it decided to make the image public anyway because it “conveys the grimness of war and the sacrifice of young men and women fighting it.”

COMMENT:  The AP's response is absolute garbage.  When journalists start waving the flag, you know they're in trouble.

It is appropriate, under certain circumstances, to publish photos of casualties.  In World War II, Life Magazine published pictures of American dead on the beach at Buna, New Guinea, in 1943 - the first time such photos were published during that war.  However, you could not see the faces.  Privacy was maintained.

But here is a case where the family made a specific request that a picture not be published.  There is no issue here of "the people's right to know."  Americans understand that soldiers are killed in wars.  The AP should have respected the family's wishes, and should be reprimanded by public outrage over its decision.

There is common decency, as Secretary Gates said, or should be.  We await a rethinking by AP, and an apology.  Don't hold your breath.

September 4, 2009