More on Press Access in NO

A couple of days ago I mentioned the fact that FEMA was seeming to tighten up press access to New Orleans, so I should probably follow up on that. I started writing about how it seems that the restrictions aren't as strict as was initially implied, but we received breaking news right in the middle of this post. CNN has won a restraining order to make sure they have access to the search and recovery of bodies. Over at Daily Kos, lesliet quotes Anderson Cooper:

CNN has obtained a restraining order to allow access to the search and recovery of the dead from Hurricane Katrina. CNN filed suit in federal court arguing that the announcement by FEMA and NO city officials that reporters would be barred from covering the body recovery effort was unconstitutional and in violation of the First Amendment.

This still isn't up on CNN's Website, so there's not much more to discuss yet, but I might as well still include the background information I hadn't had a chance to post when that word came.

The initial FEMA statement concerned photos of dead bodies, which to some degree is a reasonable request. The dead are a major part of a deadly hurricane story, but pictures in which the dead can be identified don't seem necessary. Whenever possible when death has occurred, authorities always withhold the identities of the dead until the next of kin can be identified, and it's certainly possible to take pictures of the Hurricane Katrina dead so that they can't be easily identified.

But FEMA's request quickly took on a life of its own. Brian Williams wrote about his run-ins with authorities, and he talked further about the situation with Howie Kurtz. "I have searched my mind for some justification for why I can't be reporting in a calm and heavily defended American city and cannot find one." Kurtz also mentioned a Washington Post reporter who overheard a sergeant telling a camera crew: "If we catch you photographing one body, we're going to bring you back in and throw you off the boat."

From various sources, Josh Marshall suggests that the limits on the press did not become as strict as they initially threatened. Perhaps that's because authorities felt they couldn't get away with it--maybe Williams's high profile made sure that his complaints were heard. But now with the restraining order, FEMA is likely to act as if the agency never had any intention of limiting any journalist from doing anything. Any tension this might have caused between the press and the administration will just slip back under the covers.