Independent reporter Ken Klippenstein writes that the New York Times has told staff to avoid posting photos showing the face of Luigi Mangione, the man accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The reason for its decision is not disclosed in the leaked memo—most speculation is cynical, to say the least.
The directive was heeded. If you visit Times' front-page story today on the shooter, it features Mangione's back as he was being marched to his arraignment in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Another Times story today on Mangione's notebook features a photo of a generic police-tape barricade. This is media paternalism at its worst, the idea that seeing the shooter's face too much, or reading his 262-word statement, will necessarily inspire copy-cat assassinations and should therefore be withheld from the public.My publication of Mangione's manifesto yesterday came after multiple journalists at companies like The New York Times and NBC told me that their outlets were in possession of the manifesto but would not be publishing it
In keeping with the Times' noble restraint in not excessively publicizing the images of people accused of extremely serious crimes, I have not illustrated this post with a photo of Luigi Mangione either. Instead, here's a flattering, expertly-lit and intentionally provocative front-page portrait of Harvey Weistein that the Times used to illustrate what was by then day 62 of its own reportage of rape allegations so extensive Weinstein will die in jail serving time for them.
