An Australian media outlet, SBS, has released more images of the abuse of Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq. The images are much more of the same, all disgusting, yet they come at an unusual time.

SBS revealed the image of a man with a pig snout as a real cartoon that was published in the Jyllands-Posten. We know this wasn’t the case and it was a game show contestant. SBS though did not show any of the other cartoons, or not that I can find, but felt it fitting to air images of prisoner abuse which everyone rejects and is disgusted with.

It will be interesting to see what news outlets run with stories and images from these new Abu Ghraib images to see where their outrage lies; outrage of course being more fear based than anything. The case between the ACLU and the Pentagon over the release of these photos is still pending, therefore I do not know how SBS obtained copies of the photos; I am neither a lawyer nor a legal expert by any means.

What will be the first media outlet to run a new photo of the abuse on page one or the opening of a television segment while refusing to run the Danish cartoons? Any guesses? Personally I wouldn’t put it past the New York Times, but that’s primarily because the newspaper shows such a deep disgust for the U.S. military while bending over to radical Islamists. The Washington Post might, after all they did run an editorial from an indicted terrorist and never disclosed that fact.

On the issue of the photos, I am not against running them but I really don’t know what more photos add to the story. When it comes to choosing news, there are several factors that have to come into play including an item being newsworthy. What is newsworthy about almost two year-old photos of an abuse we already know about, has been investigated and people have been thrown in jail for the abuse? We shall see what the talking heads believe this is all about thrown in with a conspiracy theory or seven.

Update: Add ABC News to the list that shares the images of Abu Ghraib but not the Danish cartoons. I contend that it is important to show the Danish cartoons in context to stories on the riots because people will see how out of hand and blown out of proportion the reaction is. In contrast, we already know what happened at Abu Ghraib and have already seen several photos from the abuse. People are in jail because of it.

CNN is also running the photos but they decided not to run the Danish cartoons because the “network believes its role is to cover the events surrounding the publication of the cartoons while not unnecessarily adding fuel to the controversy itself.”  Rob Port of Say Anything adds “[b]ut apparently adding fuel to the Abu Ghraib controversy, long since the issue has been settled and moved out of the public’s eye, is just fine and dandy.”  Apparently so, Rob.  Apparently so.

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