Time magazine's 100 most-influential images of all-time would best be avoided by the letter writer. A street execution in Saigon. A firing squad in Iran. A naked child running from napalm. A monk's self-immolation. A president's head exploding in Dallas. A soldier struggling ashore on D-Day. The dead at Antietam. People caught in mid-air plunging to their demise.

History can be ugly. Journalists bring us what's commonly called the first rough draft. We too often forget that but should never regret it.