The Los Angeles Times has published a story about a former New Orleans Times-Picayune staff photographer, Alex Brandon, now with the Associated Press, whose court testimony last year highlights complex questions about the way journalists may come to identify with their subjects and give up their independence. The tone of the Times article, written by the paper's media columnist, James Rainey, is a mixture of accusation and regret, highlighting the disappointment felt by Brandon's colleagues. 

Testifying last November at the trial of several New Orleans police officers, Brandon acknowledged withholding some information about, and in one case following instructions not to shoot pictures of, extreme police misbehavior in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005, including the unprovoked killing of unarmed civilians.