The Media Should Be Ashamed.

Xenophon has this:

"...when 14 more 3/25 Marines were killed on August 3rd the media, both local and national, paid much more attention than any of the other incidents involving 3/25. Here in Ohio you could not escape talk of the fourteen Marines killed, and that is all the information the media had. They broke this story so fast that the Marines could not even notify the families before hand. This led to absolute panic among the 3/25 families. I was able to find out pretty early that the casualties came from Lima Company (based in Columbus, OH), and so began contacting as many family members from Weapons Company and Headquarters Company (based in Akron, OH and Brookpark, near Cleveland, OH, respectively) as I could to mitigate the damage. But the damage had been done. My phone calls were answered by crying wives and mothers, sitting in front of the TV hoping for any information, horrified that I was calling with the worst of news. This was media irresponsibility at its worst."

He continues:

"The media has every right to do this. We’re a country that enjoys the freedom of speech and the freedom of the press. But does that mean that we cannot expect that the media will have the simple courtesy and consideration to allow the military to take care of our family before they announce tragedies of this kind? Especially when it comes to consideration for the families of those that serve." via Mudville

Amen to that.