Major French media outlets will try a new strategy to curb terrorism in Europe: a news blackout of names and photos of attackers.
A slew of Islamic terror attacks in France since January 2015 have prompted news organizations to refrain from publishing information that might offer “posthumous glorification” to deceased terrorists.
“The sites and newspapers that produce this information cannot excuse themselves from self-examination on several fronts. Since ISIS terrorism first appeared, Le Monde has changed its practices several times,” the newspaper said in an editorial published Wednesday.
The piece, titled “Resisting the strategy of hate,” comes just one day after Islamists stormed into a Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray mass and slit the throat of an 85-year-old priest, Father Jacques Hamel.
The French television station BFM-TV and the Catholic newspaper La Croix are both following LeMonde’s example, the Guardian reported Wednesday.
We made the decision last night to no longer show pictures of the terrorists until further notice,” BFM-TV editorial director Hervé Béroud told Agence France-Presse. “We have been thinking about this for some time. Our decision was speeded up by Nice, by the repeated tragedies.”
Some media outlets that will post images and names on a case-by-case basis include Le Figaro, Nouvel Observateur, and Libération.
Recent Islamic terror attacks in France include a rampage at the satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo on Jan 7, 2015; an attack on a Jewish supermarket on Jan 9, 2015; the Paris shootings on Nov 13, 2015; and the Nice massacre July 13 during Bastille Day ceremonies.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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