Terrorism: BFMTV and Le Monde won’t broadcast any more images of terrorists

A original translation by Ava Lon with much thanks!

From BFMTV France:

While the [terrorist] attacks are increasing in France, the debate on a possible “glorification” of terrorism has been revived in the French media. BFMTV and Le Monde have decided not to broadcast pictures of the authors of the attacks. Elements of reflection.

Can the media image of the attackers influence candidates for jihad, and push them to take action? After the attacks of Nice and Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, the debate was revived in the French media, including by Jérôme Fenoglio, editorial director of Le Monde, which published an editorial this morning to this effect.

“Following the Nice attack, we will not publish any more photographs of authors of the killings, to avoid the possible effects of posthumous glorification,” says the reporter, who calls for a “lot of introspection” in the French media.

A position shared and adopted by BFMTV on all media. Following the attack in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, the channel has decided not to publish the photograph of Adel Kermiche, the suspect of the murder of the father Hamel. [Is he still a suspect if he was killed at the scene? — translator]

“Faced with the accumulation of attacks in France, we do not want to create a rogues’ gallery of terrorists. So we stop publishing their photos, which does not prevent a work of investigation on their profile and their background. The only exception to this principle is the wanted posters, the search notices from law enforcement, that can help investigators,” commented Alexis Delahousse, deputy managing editor of BFMTV.

Shortly after the attack on 14 July in Nice, a petition was even officially launched to ask the CSA [Superior Council of Audiovisual (Content), a French institution whose role is to regulate the various electronic media in France, such as radio and television. Its predecessor, the Haute Autorité de la Communication Audiovisuelle, was created by the Socialist Party] to control the dissemination of such images. If this petition already has 70,000 signatories, the debate is however not new.

Photos that cause a scandal

Back in 2012, many readers and viewers were moved by the publication of photographs of Mohamed Merah, the perpetrator of the killings of Toulouse and Montauban, where we saw the terrorist laughing at the wheel of his car.

Similar reactions were observed in the aftermath of the attack on 14 July in Nice, during which 84 people were killed by a truck careening at full speed along la Promenade des Anglais. The press then diffused a more “advantageous” photo of Mohamed Lahouaiej Bouhlel, the author of the killing. We see him lying on the beach and showing off his muscles in a triumphant pose.

A vision all the more shocking, since at the same time several videos showing the victims of the attack — injured or dead — circulating on social networks. However, the decision not to broadcast the photographs of bombers poses several deeper questions. Several jihad specialists question and doubt the effectiveness of such a measure in the fight against radicalization. And David Thomson, RFI journalist and the author of a book on the lives of several French jihadists (The French jihadists, ed. les Arènes), doesn’t expect a decrease in terrorism.

A view reinforced by the fact that for several years ISIS has disseminated its propaganda with its own media channels. On social networks or via its QAMA agency, the terrorist organization propagates, after every attack or almost all, pictures of those responsible, rendering obsolete any attempt of the traditional media to “obscure” them.

This editorial choice designed to avoid an effect “star Terrorist Acts” will however not affect the terrorist intensity in France

— David Thomson (@_DavidThomson) 27 July 2016

Besides the problem of any possible “glorification” of terrorism, there’s the problem of the conspiracy theory. After every attack, every major event, the conspiracy-mongers from all sides attack the official version and try, usually by misinterpreting images, to discredit the facts. How to fight against these theories and their authors, while casting a veil over the pictures of the terrorists?

Should their names be removed?

On 27 July, following statements of Le Monde and BFMTV, it was the turn of Europe 1 to decide not to broadcast pictures of terrorists, and adding banishment of their names, a first in the media.

@ Europe1 decides not to mention on the air the names of the authors of the killings. Their photos will no longer appear on europe1.fr

— Henry de Laguérie (@henrydelaguerie) 27 July 2016

Problem: the media and the judiciary are not on the same wavelength. While during the day on Tuesday the media were broadcasting the initials of one of the alleged perpetrators of the attack of Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray, Prosecutor François Molins gave the full name of the man killed on the steps of the church.

Once the investigation is officially launched, and these elements published by the justice, what impact the non-dissemination by the media of these can have on the public, at a time when social networks often transmit information faster than traditional channels? This is the position taken by BFMTV, and assistant editor Alexis Delahousse explains that “if François Molins gives the name, then we will too.”

Again, the conspiracy theory is not far away. On Twitter the extreme right regularly calls authors of articles about the various facts or acts of terrorism, and in which full names are not given. Each time, the press is suspected and accused of deliberately withholding these names in order to cover up the extent of the particular case.

@franceinfo [French news agency] You may reveal the name of the Islamist # of #Magnanville https://twitter.com/FrkGuiot/status/742586297592713216 …

— Franck GUIOT (@FrkGuiot) 14 June 2016

About Eeyore

Canadian artist and counter-jihad and freedom of speech activist as well as devout Schrödinger's catholic

15 Replies to “Terrorism: BFMTV and Le Monde won’t broadcast any more images of terrorists”

  1. Blurred video of the Muslim cutthroats on euronews –

    – Normandy church killers pledge allegiance to ISIL in a video

  2. Are they refusing to broadcast the pictures for the stated reason or are they afraid of some Moslem getting mad at them for not showing proper respect?

    • I can just picture a roomful of university educated brain trusts coming up with a tortured line of reasoning to justify this idiocy. Yes, of course, there might be some glorification going on, but the greater good is served by sticking to our principles of telling the truth and speaking freely than by worrying about a minor side-effect that may or may not happen. This is a classic example of stupid people trying to think when they clearly have no idea how to do that. Remember, they were all about deleting all the film of the Nice attack a couple of days ago. Everything these pricks think of is the exact opposite of the right thing to do. They are all total idiots. What they should be doing is going after and killing the terrorists, not pussyfooting around with exotic theories…

      “Know the truth and the truth will set you free”. I don’t think I got that exactly right, but it’s the principle I believe in. It’s all we’ve got, and these idiots want to blot it out. God have mercy on us…

      I’ve said this many times before. If they really gave a damn about terrorism, they’d go to the Al Azhar University in Cairo, identify the radical Salafist Imams who are causing all the troubles in the world, kill them, and then it would all be over. Yes, folks. It’s that simple. “One, two, three”… Clearly, somebody on our side doesn’t want it to be over, do they…? Does anybody not see that? President al-Sisi is even trying to do that very thing as we speak, but Obama won’t give him the time of day…

      • “,,,they don’t want it to be over”

        That’s it right there. This bigger picture, or stupidity beyond imagination, explains so much of what we see. Or is it possible that some of us who by luck are immune to the blinding “progressive” virus look at the other side simply dumbstruck by their level of brainwashing?

        PC, outside the sexual sphere (if such a thing exists for humans) explain mass hypnosis or brainwashing.

        • Have you ever been brainwashed? I have. At least three times. Fortunately it wore off after a few days, but I can assure you that it’s a real thing, achievable through time-proven techniques. It works best in large-group environments, like a summer retreat or a big meeting. AA is a form of very beneficial life-saving brainwashing. Pretty girls pretending to like you works wonders on young guys (see EST, Scientology, Young Life). I think the fact that I’ve been brainwashed in the past a few times makes me particularly difficult to brainwash now. It’s real. It could happen to pretty much anybody, but nobody believes that…

          • The honest answer is I don’t know. The brainwashed don’t know they are brainwashed until something snaps them out of it. I do know that the people on this site see at least these issues crystal clearly.

        • I never heard of “progressive” until a few years ago. Didn’t realize that sexuality had preferences. Or that conception was subject to choice.
          Now that I do, my brain could do with a good wash once in a while.

  3. This partial censorship will not be helpful in police investigations.
    The names also will not be published, only first name and initials. If first name is too long, only part of first name.
    Often, members of the public can recognize a face and report it to police to help the investigation. Sadly, police have lost an important tool – the public.

    • They are clearly signalling to the public that their participation is not expected or welcome. Only unionized government employees could have the training to handle such work anyway. All the public could do would be to screw things up and get in the way. Arm them and they’d only shoot themselves, warn them and they’d only panic…

  4. If the press is not going to show pictures of the Jihadis, then they can start showing material that “radicalised” them.

    Qur’an 8:12 “I will terrorize the unbelievers. Therefore smite them on their necks and every joint and incapacitate them. Strike off their heads and cut off each of their fingers and toes.”

  5. This is worst than “1984;” this is preventing the formation of an accurate knowledge base from which the body politic can reach an accurate consensus of what is actually happening. Like when the newspapers & TV stations deliberately suppress the race of a criminal suspect so you can’t ascertain who might be a criminal. I recall an NBC news broadcast where they deliberately fuzzed out the ARMS of a black rape suspect so as to prevent the identification of his race; pointless since other news media had pictures. Guess Europe is learning from communist American MSM.

    Anyway, what difference does it make now? War is coming to France, and everyone knows Religious Civil Wars are bloodiest of them all. Telling people not to believe their Lying Eyes won’t work.

    • “Out of sight, out of mind.” Imagine how soon we’d all lose interest in Islamic Jihad if we got used to every photo being gauzed out like that. The bastards! And if you dare complain about it they’ve got their little paragraph of Democrat-speak prepared to explain to you that it all makes perfect sense and that if they show the real pictures the terrorists win and it’s not who we are. These people are not going to stop screwing up until they are fired and escorted off the property by security…