I was just on your website looking at some of the photos of the fire, and I was appalled to see photos of the helicopters and slurry bombers that were obviously taken from drones.
I called the newsroom and asked how, in good conscience, you could post those on your website, considering the gravity of the situation. I was told that the Herald has run articles in which they have asked people not to fly drones in the fire area. I then asked how you could post photos taken from the same drones that are not supposed to be flying there.
The person muttered something about censorship. That’s nonsense. This isn’t about censorship; it’s about responsible journalism.
The people flying those drones should be arrested, jailed and/or fined. And you should be ashamed of yourselves.
Gary Prisby
Durango
Editor’s note: None of the photos taken of the 416 Fire taken by Herald staff was taken from a drone. Additionally, the Herald did not publish any reader-submitted photos that were taken from a drone. The Herald vetted and verified the origin of every reader-submitted photo.
