By Ingrid Bachmann
In light of the investigation into the publication of a photo of dead bodies in a Caracas morgue, a Venezuelan court banned for a month the national press from publishing "violent, bloody, or grotesque images, whether of crime or not," that can affect children and adolescents, reported The Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press
According to El Tiempo, in two rulings handed down Tuesday, Aug. 17, the judge in charge of the case made a special mention of the newspapers El Nacional and Tal Cual, which have published the controversial morgue photos.
One of the rulings (PDF file) also prohibited El Nacional from printing reports or ads of any type that contain "blood, weapons, messages of terror, physical aggression, images about war, and messages about dead or deceased."
In the ruling issued against Tal Cual, the judge urged newspapers to “weigh in an objective manner the exercise of their function," added El Universal.
Gabriela Ramírez, the human rights ombudsman, said the government had nothing to do with the decision, which was about protecting minors, reported Agencia Venezolana de Noticias.
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.
