Major French media have pledged to stop publishing the names and pictures of attackers linked to terror groups to prevent them being ‘posthumously glorified’.
It comes as the French parliament debates whether to enshrine in law restrictions on the way the news media can cover ‘terrorist acts.’
France is reeling from its latest terror attack when two armed men stormed a church in a suburb of Rouen on Tuesday and slit the throat of 85-year-old priest Jacques Hamel during a morning mass.
Major French media have pledged to stop publishing the pictures of ISIS jihadists, such as Abdel Malik and Adel Kermiche, the two terrorists who slaughtered a French priest at a church in Normandy
Father Jacques Hammel was knifed in the neck, back and arms at the altar of the church as he led mass
Earlier in the month divorced father-of-three Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel mowed down 84 people celebrating Bastille Day in Nice with a massive lorry.
Director of Le Monde, Jerome Fenoglio, said in an editorial that his newspaper would stop including pictures of jihadists under the headline ‘resisting the strategy of hate’ and called for news media to exercise more responsibility.
The newspaper already has a ban on publishing extracts of ISIS propaganda or claims of responsibility from the murderous organisation.
He said: ‘We owe it to all victims of the criminal group known as ISIS and since Tuesday we owe it to the memory of Father Jacques Hamel, assassinated in his church.
‘Following the attack in Nice, we will no longer publish photographs of those who carry out massacres to avoid the possibility of glorifying them in death.’
The television station BFM-TV – France’s most watched news network – announced a ban on Wednesday afternoon, beginning with church killers Abdel Malik and Adel Kermiche.
BFM-TV was criticized in January 2015 for its coverage of a deadly attack on a Jewish supermarket in Paris in which four hostages were killed.
Six survivors, who were hiding in the supermarket, accused the channel of endangering their lives by revealing the location of their hideout live on air.
BFM-TV editorial director Hervé Béroud told Agence France-Presse: ‘We made the decision last night to no longer show pictures of the terrorists until further notice.
‘We have been thinking about this for some time. Our decision was speeded up by Nice, by the repeated tragedies.’
Floral tributes have been left at the church in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray where Father Jacques was murdered
Europe 1 radio and the Catholic newspaper La Croix said they had chosen the same course of action.
The Local has also followed suit and said the media needed to ‘guard against becoming their tools’.
Managing editor James Savage said: ‘We think the right balance is to refrain from publishing photos of terrorists, while still publishing names and relevant biographical information.’
Johan Hufnagel, the editor of the newspaper Libération, said it would take decisions on a case-by-case basis.
He told the Guardian: ‘We are always challenging our position regarding pictures. Each story is different, each terrorist attack is different and we adapt our front page considering that’.
French President Francois Hollande, who visited the scene, said the country is now ‘at war’ with ISIS after the terror group claimed responsibility
In the aftermath of the Nice attack, psychoanalyst Fethi Benslam told France Culture radio: ‘Perhaps it is time that there was a pact in the media to no longer publish the names and pictures of the perpetrators of these acts, as it’s a really big boost to their efforts to make themselves world famous, even while their victims are anonymous and will remain anonymous.’
‘The terrorists will gain glory in the eyes of their commanders, or their friends and it could encourage others to do resort to the same thing.
‘It’s a perfectly orchestrated strategy of Daesh (Isis). They leave behind their identity cards, they want to be known immediately.’
Socialist MP Sébastian Pietrasanta added: ‘Some terrorists are in a race to be famous by dying as a hero,’ said
British media – MailOnline included – continue to publish photographs of people responsible for terror attacks.
The radical step has been criticised by some who fear it will ‘leave the space free for others to fill’.
France 24 journalist Wassim Nasr, a specialist in jihadism and the Middle East told L’Express that if news sites do not publish photos and names of terrorists ‘it will quickly be occupied by conspiracy theorists and Islamic State and their dangerous communication’.
Far-right politician Marion Le Pen suggested the real motive for the move was to ‘hide the link with immigration’.
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