New York Times on the Spot for Publishing Insensitive Images from Nairobi’s 14 Riverside Terror Attack

New York Times on the Spot for Publishing Insensitive Images from Nairobi’s 14 Riverside Terror Attack

The New York Times is on the spot after publishing insensitive photos from the Dusit D2 attack on 14 Riverside Drive, Nairobi.

New York Times used images of dead victims in an article written by the incoming East Africa Bureau Chief for the New York Times, Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura.

Aggrieved Kenyans have taken to Twitter using hash tag #SomeonetellNewYorkTimes and #DeportKimiko to criticize the media firm for using images of dead bodies.

@wgkantai tweets: "Dear @nytimes. What value do you add by publishing pictures of dead bodies from Nairobi? You wouldn’t do this for an attack in New York, would you? Shame on you. And also to @AP, who took the photos."

BBC journalist @LarryMadowo says: "This complex probably has more Kenyan companies than foreign ones. And it is in poor taste for the New York Times to publish images of the dead"

@FQanini notes: "Very disturbing images published by @GettyImages, accredited to @kabirdhanji, from the Riverside/Dusit incident. Others posted by @nytimes attributed to Khalil Senosi (for @AP) in an article by @kimidefreytas. Absolutely distasteful, disgusting and deplorable. An utter disgrace.

However, the writer, Ms. Kimiko has defended herself saying she doesn't have the power to select what photo to be used in an article, stating that her work is to write.

"I apologize on behalf of @nytimes and @nytphotofor causing anger and anguish over the photos that have been published with our reporting. Thank you," she says in a tweet.

"I don’t choose the photos. Please direct your message to our photo desk. Thanks," she adds.

Twitter has since suspended The New York Photos account over the disturbing photos of the attack that left 14 people dead.

The New York Times has justified its action saying: “We have heard from some readers upset with our publishing of a photo showing victims after a brutal attack in Nairobi. We understand how painful this coverage can be and we try to be very sensitive in how we handle both words and images."

It adds: "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."

 

Comments

Anonymous UI (not verified)     Wed, 01/16/2019 @ 09:19am

They publish how they see Kenyan's and all other black countries as " Shit hole countries" and " graveyard ".

formerlyguest2 (not verified)     Wed, 01/16/2019 @ 10:23pm

In reply to by GUEST1 (not verified)

You and Diana are the most unpatriotic humans I have ever read from . Educate the world ? Like the world didn't see all the terror in Europe and USA and other places educate what, how an arm detached from the body looks like? Is that supposed to be a biology lesson ? The gory images were someone's daughter, son, father, mother, spouse , God forbid any of your loved ones will ever be in the line of fire - lets see what lesson the strewn body parts of your loved ones will inform and educate the world, hope you can volunteer the images...bure kabisaa.

God Bless beautiful Kenya and her people !

Really? (not verified)     Wed, 01/16/2019 @ 09:27am

There is nothing Insensitive here compared to GRUESOME photos we have seen pertaining to Attacks or Airstrikes in the Middle East (Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, Syria, even Libya). As a Matter of Fact this News article is an OXymoron.

Why? Because it says at the End that ".... 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 situatiion."

My take: The word "clear picture" validates "insensive photos" because the so-called "insensitive photos" do give "a CLEAR picture" of the HORRORIBLE attack on Nairobi.

Jamama (not verified)     Wed, 01/16/2019 @ 09:42am

This is nothing wrong with the photos. The faces are not shown so one can't tell who those people are. This is done all the time though usually it is done behind a filter saying the image maybe disturbing therefore allowing the reader to click on the filter to reveal the image or skip.

Mugikuyu (not verified)     Wed, 01/16/2019 @ 10:37am

They would not dare publish such gory pictures on the US soil for fear of being sued. Pictures taken from Westgate and Garissa were so gory one of them even won a pultzer prize for skill and bravery for displaying pictures of black people dead. Disgusting.

Mgeni (not verified)     Wed, 01/16/2019 @ 11:44am

What NY Times did was unethical. How would you feel seeing your loved one's body slumped over. This is breaking news! There are still people out there just learning that they lost their loved ones. NY Times went way out of line. Whoever still needs a reminder of the evils of terrorism that they have to get it through a careless display of dead bodies must have something wrong in their heads. If we don't speak up for our dead brothers and sisters, who will? Shindeni hapo mkitetea NY Times

Diana (not verified)     Wed, 01/16/2019 @ 12:04pm

In reply to by Mgeni (not verified)

There is no “tasteful” picture in a terror attack.

It seems Kenyans in Kenya are more concerned about how they are perceived than dealing with the reality.

The kenya government failed to protect Kenyans.
Corruption is what is helping terrorists.

jag (not verified)     Wed, 01/16/2019 @ 01:16pm

In reply to by Diana (not verified)

How a country and its citizens are perceived is very important. In fact it is far more important than you may think and that's why most countries don't display their weaknesses to the world. A country's image means a lot to that country's foreign investment, tourism, studies, etc. United States rarely portrays any of its negativity to the world. It is high time Africans do the same and I applaud Kenyans for condemning such senseless display of horrific photos. A clear picture of newsworthy information can still be portrayed without the horrific photos. There are a lot of killings in the US streets, in Chicago, for example, but you rarely see anything being displayed to the world. In fact American media is more protective of negative portrayal of this country than any other country I know. That's why people in other countries think that US is such a heavenly place, but it couldn't be any further from the truth.

Western media always try to portray Africa as barbaric and whenever they find anything that helps them perpetuate that agenda, they use it with disregard. Watch any American news of Africa and all you see is negativity, some times they go their way to even redact anything that would reveal any affluence aspect of Africa. Have you ever seen any American media-house show any vast skyline of any African city? Of course not because they only show slums and tragedies because such narrative fits their agenda. It's all by design. So let my people guard their image.

jag (not verified)     Wed, 01/16/2019 @ 03:14pm

In reply to by Diana (not verified)

Not necessarily and it doesn't have to be so. I was around when the NYC Twin Towers were fell by terrorists. There were mangled bodies everywhere, some people even dropped to their death from more than 90 stories high. Did you ever see any mangled body from American media? No, why? Because they guard the country's reputation. And so should Kenya and Africa!

Diana (not verified)     Wed, 01/16/2019 @ 03:22pm

In reply to by jag (not verified)

They reported 9/11 live.
They have movies and documentaries about 9/11.
They have a museum full of pictures and things from 9/11.
They have books with pictures about 9/11.

I have been to ground zero and I have been to the museum, I have seen the picture and stories of victims and survivors.

American journalists document almost everything from every angle.
These are professional story tellers not. Githeri media.

They should not lower themselves to cater to Kenyans who cannot handle the truth and their personal responsibilities on the consequences of corruption in Kenya.

Blame shifting is just Road to nowhere.

You blame the messages because you can’t handle the message.

Jiangaliee.

Mgeni (not verified)     Wed, 01/16/2019 @ 11:08pm

In reply to by Diana (not verified)

Diana, I'm sorry but you are totally brain-washed. If you think NY times showing dead bodies from what is considered third world countries and not show the same of America. Then you are in deep denial. No one is underscoring the evils of terrorism. And NY times HAD NO RIGHT TO SHOW DEAD BODIES. Please direct us to those videos and books you keep mentioning. No one is in denial. You are the one you should jiangalia na kujichunguza kabisa. Unatetea watu hata hawajali juu yako ama watu wenu. It's a pity. At the end of the day CNN and NY Times got the message loud and clear! Kenya hatutaki upumbavu wao. Terrorism affects people all over the world, and it's high time they chose what images of Africa to project.

JustMe (not verified)     Thu, 01/17/2019 @ 01:33am

In reply to by Diana (not verified)

Who said Kenya does not 'document' everything... we do but we are talking about posting gory pictures....real pictures of dead, injured and/or shocked victims - insensitive and not a care to family members....informing them on live TV/social media.
Movies, you half-wit, are made thereafter and they don't show REAL pictures of the actual victims.
I feel like am wasting my time responding to you -- btw I highly suspect you are a terrorist or better terrorist sympathizers we hear of. You are the type who should be investigated.

Maxley (not verified)     Thu, 01/17/2019 @ 04:24pm

In reply to by Diana (not verified)

@Diana,Ihave to agree with you on that.My take is that ,if possible,incidents should be portrayed as accurate as with a warning for those who might not stomach the contents. Hopefully when we see horrific pictures we may be driven to take measures that will assure that we dont see these images again.For example,there is no point of "sugarcoating"or avoiding the horrific images of slavery, or the holocaust.

Diana (not verified)     Wed, 01/16/2019 @ 12:00pm

West gate happened Kenya went after CNN for saying “Kenya is Hot bed of terror”.

Now same script.

Dusuit kenyans go after Newyork times.

Anyways,

America media shows gory videos and pictures all the time on their local tv .
They even show live police chase and things like that.On local news.

Am not understanding what the outrage is about.

The world needs to see the truth.

Diana (not verified)     Wed, 01/16/2019 @ 03:01pm

In reply to by JustMe (not verified)

The Newyork times has not killed anyone.Neither has any media house.

Channel your anger to the government that failed to protect Kenyans and corruption that is assisting terrorists to hid in plain sight.

Ufisadi (not verified)     Wed, 01/16/2019 @ 01:17pm

Misplaced anger. Doing the terrorists bid. They terrorize you to scare you and sow hatred among the normally free souls. Your anger should lie directly with the pieces of shit who roam freely around our country plotting and murdering the innocent. How about how the hell were they living, driving, scouting and enjoying life in kenya. Honestly this fuckers need to go back to their county and whoever qualifies to stay in Kenya must have a thorough security clearance. On second thought, never mind they’ll just buy their way back with legal names like Otieno, nyoroge, wandera, ole jambazi blah blah. FUCK THESE PIECES OF SHIT AND THEIR SHITTY FAKE RELIGION AND THE SO CALLED ‘GOOD MUSLIMS’ WHO TOLERATE,ENABLE,TURN A BLIND EYE,DEFEND GIVE EXCUSES FOR, DONT SNITCH. YOU ARE ALL THE SAME. COWARDLY MURDEROUS PIGS WHO ONLY TARGET THE DEFENSELESS. FUCK YOU ALL AND YOUR PEDOPHILE ‘prophet’

Mwananchi (not verified)     Wed, 01/16/2019 @ 01:55pm

NY are still fuelling the anger!. What a hell an they say that they wanted to put a clear picture?. Do they do that when it happens to other parts?. They better admit their wrong doing?.... This can tell a lot!....

Mugikuyu (not verified)     Thu, 01/17/2019 @ 11:42pm

In reply to by Diana (not verified)

Diana seeking attention from the West by displaying gory images of your own people dead or in turmoil does not gain you respect. Sympathy which I believe is what you are craving for will never gain you respect or build you an image. Image of a country ought to be guarded because it brings in investments. When you have problems at home do you go telling everyone about it at the local market or displaying pictures of your unclean house on social media. Of course not or hopefully not. That said, having read your past comments I wonder whether you struggle with patriotism. By the way have you seceded yet?

Mugikuyu (not verified)     Thu, 01/17/2019 @ 11:44pm

In reply to by Diana (not verified)

Diana seeking attention from the West by displaying gory images of your own people dead or in turmoil does not gain you respect. Sympathy which I believe is what you are craving for will never gain you respect or build you an image. Image of a country ought to be guarded because it brings in investments. When you have problems at home do you go telling everyone about it at the local market or displaying pictures of your unclean house on social media. Of course not or hopefully not. That said, having read your past comments I wonder whether you struggle with patriotism. By the way have you seceded yet?

njai (not verified)     Wed, 01/16/2019 @ 03:00pm

@Ufisadi, we can understand your unger but nobody can condone your blanket codemnation of all Muslims. Hawa ni magaidi, si waislamu.🇰🇪

Esther Wanjohi (not verified)     Wed, 01/16/2019 @ 05:09pm

Yeah Just as usual a dumbass government with uneducated security forces and eighth grade dropouts. Doing and acting like dumbasses.You would never know they have experience terror attack before.Didn't you learn from the first one.Even the ambulances didn't have oxygen masks. A stupid country that i will never go back to.Get over it snowflakes.And always sensitive when criticized.Let's face it your country sucks

mkenya halisi (not verified)     Wed, 01/16/2019 @ 08:06pm

Is this Diana a shoga juu she is acting like one talking shit juu they all behave like so.Am hoping yr family is not caught n mundered by terrorist one day n their pictures b posted on the social media then we will see yr comments??

Joan (not verified)     Wed, 01/16/2019 @ 09:59pm

We have seen and always see raw photos and videos on our national media outlets and social forums, it's hypocrisy to criticize those in America for doing the same.

Imara Daima (not verified)     Thu, 01/17/2019 @ 12:42am

@Njai: Waislamu waliwauza wafrika utumwani. Mpaka sasa, Wafrika wangali wanateswa sana katika nchi za uarabuni. Hamna tofauti baina ya waislamu na magaidi!

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