Ask the editors: Where are photos of Israel?

Question: I am wondering why your paper is willing to publish pictures that show Israeli damage and casualties to the innocent victims on the Lebanese side of the war, but you don’t show the damage done to the Israeli people. You might want to access the Jerusalem Post and see the damage the other side has done.

I am very tired of seeing liberal-leaning coverage by your paper. Israel had every right to defend itself. Hezbollah and Hamas have an expressed goal of killing all Jews. Please give equal coverage. – Doug Munday, Spokane

Answer: The eruption of violence in Israel and Lebanon last week brings a familiar issue to the table for editors. We try to publish the best photographs available on a daily basis. By “best” I mean the photos that are most compelling, newsworthy, timely and relevant to the news of the day.

There was no political or personal bias attached to the selection of Monday’s front-page photo. The day’s events started with Hezbollah rockets striking Israel and killing eight people. The Israelis retaliated by firing missiles into Lebanon. The Israeli attack happened later in the day, so those events were more timely than what happened earlier in the day. (I might note that the Hezbollah attack resulted in eight deaths.)

Our policy has long been that we don’t show dead bodies on the front page. Now, there may have been an exception to that in past instances, but we’re usually very consistent about that. You may disagree with our policy, but most newspaper editors have learned over the years that readers object to graphic photos of dead people on the front page.

Unfortunately, it seems this new cycle of violence in the Mideast is likely to be with us for a while. I’m confident that we will have ample opportunity to publish photos of the destruction and the human toll that will occur on both sides.

– Gary Graham, managing editor