Burying The Lead

There would be some great irony if I "buried the lead" is this post about that very topic, so let me get to it:

The New York Times is reconsidering their guidelines about publishing photos of dead bodies after readers objected to photo from the Kenya massacre last Monday. 

That fact is included 30 paragraphs into an article about those photos, in which editors discuss how they reached the decision to publish a photo showing "bloody bodies slumped over tables", i.e., the Times buried the lead.When they finally did get to it, they wrote:

"LACEY As a result of the concerns from our readers that this photo raised, we’re going to convene a group of people to come up with clearer guidelines. I am going to be part of that effort.

LOORAM The group of journalists Marc is referring to will draft a guide for editors who are faced with making these kinds of consequential decisions.

As part of this process, we will create a set of questions to consider before publishing sensitive images. We must weigh our responsibility as journalists to help our readers see and understand the reality of the world with sensitivity to the victims and their families. We take both of these responsibilities very seriously.

It is also crucial to me as the director of photography that our editors are cognizant of issues of representation of people of color. We must not apply different standards, or give less consideration, to the dignity and humanity and pain of any group of people."