A senior journalist working for the New York Times was, on Tuesday, forced to apologize on behalf of the paper over graphic pictures of the Riverside attack that were posted on the news site.
An article published by the incoming East Africa Bureau Chief Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura elicited anger among Kenyans online when it featured photos of the dead and those injured in the horror attack.
Kimiko was at first combative when observant netizens called her out over the pictures in the article, a stance she later dropped and apologized.
Kenyans termed the images in the article titled, Nairobi Attack: Shabaab Claim Responsibility for Deadly Assault as insensitive and distasteful in light of the tragedy that had befallen the country.
A user by the name Fadhili Kanini posted, "Very disturbing images published by, 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."
Her response angered Kenyans who called for her immediate dismissal and deportation from the country.
"Coming from "incoming bureau chief for East Africa" utter disgrace and lack of respect for the victims. Reomve the photos," one user wrote.
Another added, "What a trash response! Direct our sentiments to your photo department and please go and report in a country whose people you respect."
Issuing a statement on the situation, Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet urged people not to share graphic images of the attack.
"We urge members of the public not to share, forward, retweet and otherwise spread any of this information and or images because doing so will only abeit the enemy.
"We also encourage members of the public to flag such images and/or information in order to bring them to the attention of the necessary authorities," he noted.
Kimiko went ahead to delete her earlier tweets referring queries on her picture to the New York Times position on the matter.
"This is The New York Times's position on why we published the photos that we did. I've deleted my earlier tweets that did not explain the reasoning behind our decision," she stated.
Via their official Twitter handle, the American based newspaper explained that it was trying to be sensitive in how it handled the situation and images.
"We have heard from some readers upset with our publishing 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 in these situations," the publication stated.
UPDATES:
7:00 PM: The story was updated with a statement by the New York Times.
