The U.S. command in Afghanistan that last month banned pictures of military personnel killed in action has reversed its policy.

The change came as the Pentagon called the ban an “isolated incident” amid media scrutiny this week.

The rule, which was issued by the Regional Command East media operations center in early September, said, “Media will not be allowed to photograph or record video of U.S. personnel killed in action.” It was inserted into the RC East media embed ground rules soon after the Associated Press distributed a photograph of a mortally wounded American Marine in Afghanistan.

RC East revised its guidelines Thursday to say, “Media will not be prohibited from viewing or filming casualties,” along with a list of conditions under which the publication of those images is restricted. The new language is in sync with other military embed agreements in Afghanistan and Iraq.

In a statement Thursday, the media operations center at RC East said it acted “to further clarify the command’s intent to protect the privacy and propriety of our service members who are killed or mortally wounded in action.”

“This change better synchronizes RC East media ground rules with those of our higher headquarters,” the statement explained.

Stars & Stripes reported Thursday that a Pentagon spokesperson called the RC East photo ban an “isolated incident.” Spokesperson Bryan Whitman told reporters he personally expressed concerns to U.S. Central Command about the RC East rule, and “they will tell you that they’ve probably had similar questions about it and that’s why they’re addressing it.”

RC East’s photo ban went largely unnoticed until October 9, when the rule change was reported by the blog of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. PDN confirmed the report Wednesday and the story quickly spread to other outlets.

Pictures of American military deaths are rare, and when they are taken news outlets are often reluctant to publish them. Last month relatively few newspapers ran the controversial AP picture by photographer Julie Jacobson, which was part of a package of stories and photos about the death of Lance Cpl. Joshua M. Bernard.



Here are the rules on casualty photos as they appeared in RC East’s media embed documents before and after the changes.

July 23:

“10.  Media will not be prohibited from covering casualties provided the following conditions are adhered to:
a.    Names, video, identifiable written/oral descriptions or identifiable photographs of wounded service members will not be released without the service member’s prior written consent. If the service member later becomes a KIA, Rule 10(b) applies. 
b.    DOD will release names of KIAs. In respect for family members, names or images clearly identifying individuals ‘killed in action’ will not be released prior to notification of next of kin and in accordance with current legislation. Names of KIAs may be released after the DOD announcement has been made – journalists may check the Defenselink.mil Web site for those announcements.”

September 15:

“10. Media will not be allowed to photograph or record video of U.S. personnel killed in action.  Written coverage of all killed and wounded is also prohibited unless the following conditions are adhered to:
a.    Names or identifiable written/oral descriptions of wounded service members will not be released  without the service member’s prior written consent. If the service member later becomes a KIA, Rule 10(b) applies. 
b. DOD will release names of KIAs. In respect for family members, names or identifying oral/written reporting of individuals ‘killed in action’ will not be released prior to notification of next of kin and in accordance with current legislation. Names of KIAs may be released after the DOD announcement has been made – journalists may check the Defenselink.mil Web site for those announcements.”

October 15:

“14. Media will not be prohibited from viewing or filming casualties; however, casualty photographs showing recognizable face, nametag or other identifying feature or item will not be published.  In respect to our family members, names, video, identifiable written/oral descriptions or identifiable photographs of wounded service members will not be released without the service member’s prior written consent. If the service member dies of his wounds, next-of-kin reporting rules then apply.  Media should contact the PAO for release advice.”