International Media Company the New York Times, has said a controversial photo of dead bodies that was used in a story on the 14 Riverside attack in Nairobi will not be pulled down.
This comes after an uproar on social media that saw the NYT photo page on Twitter removed after Kenyans reported that it had gone against the policy on posting prohibited content.
An email received by Kenyan Media outlet Citizen Digital from Zach Montague, a senior NYT editor said:
“Thank you for writing to us about our report on Tuesday’s attack in Nairobi, Kenya. We understand how painful this coverage can be, and we try to be very sensitive in how we handle both words and images in these situations. “We want to be respectful to the victims and to others affected by the attack. But we also believe it is important to give our readers a clear picture of the horror of an attack like this. This includes showing pictures that are not sensationalized but that give a real sense of the situation. We take the same approach wherever in the world something like this happens — whether it’s a mass shooting in Las Vegas, Nev., or a terror attack in Toronto or London — balancing the need for sensitivity and respect with our mission of showing the reality of these events.” As of Wednesday, 7:30am, the controversial picture was still on the New York Times article even as Kenyans on Twitter created hashtags to express their anger and disappointment.
As of Wednesday, 7:30am, the controversial picture was still on the New York Times article even as Kenyans on Twitter created hashtags to express their anger and disappointment.
The hashtags include: #NewYorkTimes, #SomeoneTellNYT and #deportkimiko