La Prensa, Honduras’ most circulated newspaper, reports that it will no longer publish photos of “cadavers” or images of body bags as part of its new editorial policy on covering the increase in violence in the country.
The change, which took effect early last month, was announced this week. La Prensa explained that the goal of the new policy is to “combat sensationalism by treating it as a practice that abuses freedom of expression and damages the credibility of the media outlet that uses it.”
“This measure does not involve restricting information about murders or fatal accidents, but it means news articles will no longer be paired with images that show dead bodies, only photos of the scene of the crime or accident, or of the person when they were alive, or of the victims’ family,” the newspaper explained to its readers.
The policy change, which was generally received positively by readers and the authorities, applies to every platform operated by the company: print, web, mobile, and social media.
After the 2009 Honduran coup, violence exploded in the country, leading to the deaths of at least 10 media workers.
Note from the editor: This story was originally published by the Knight Center’s blog Journalism in the Americas, the predecessor of LatAm Journalism Review.
