Skip to main content

MOTHER JONES NEEDS YOUR HELP

We need to raise $390,000 in online donations by June 30 to finish our fiscal year break even. We’ve already cut everything we can. We cannot afford to come up short. It's tough right now. And there’s more about why this is so urgent and the big, entirely fixable challenge journalism faces in “News Never Pays,” or in this primer about our nonprofit journalism and finances. If you can right now, please pitch in at whatever level works for you. We need more help than normal this month.

Mother Jones needs your help. We need to raise $390,000 in online donations by June 30 to finish our fiscal year break even. We’ve already cut everything we can. We cannot afford to come up short. Learn more about why this is so urgent in “News Never Pays,” or about our finances and nonprofit operation here, and please support the journalism you get from us if you can right now. We need more help than normal.

Commentary

May 4, 2011

Public Records Should be…..Public

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

Should the White House release photos of Osama bin Laden that were taken after he was shot during Sunday’s raid? I’m surprised this is even being debated. Of course they should. These are public records of a very public operation against public enemy #1, and like it or not the public should have access to them. The only reason to withhold them would be for reasons of operational security, and I don’t think that applies here. Security issues are probably legitimate when it comes to releasing real-time video of the actual raid, but not to still photos of bin Laden himself.

Release the photos. And the video of his burial at sea, for that matter. These are public records, folks.

Latest