The SF Chronicle feared that publishing the disturbing pictures of Iraqi prisoner abuse would offend their readers and be seen as a political statement. Some readers thought that the Chronicle was afraid of such reaction demonstrates how gingerly the “so-called liberal media,” as Eric Alterman calls it, walk around issues that may appear to reveal a liberal bias. The paper published a brief note to it readers.
The Chronicle decided to run the graphic images on the front page and on Page A12 because the editors thought the public’s right to know outweighed the potentially disturbing nature of the images.
To which one reader replied:
“Why do you add those unnecessary, apologetic explanations for running the pictures of Iraqi prisoners being mistreated? After all, you are a news organization, not a laundry service for the U.S. government.”