This archive report was first published on 6 August 2020.
On July 24, 2020, Gideon Ayieko wrote to the Nation Media Group (NMG) expressing his discontent with the publication of a picture of Ohangla songbird Maureen Achieng' aka Lady Maureen sitting on a hospital bed just before she died.
He questioned the need to use a photo of someone who was very sick, sparking a debate about the ethics of publishing pictures of patients in hospitals.
Fast forward to today, Kinyua Thuku has joined the chorus, criticizing NMG for not adhering to the same standards as European media outlets when it comes to publishing pictures of patients in hospitals.
Thuku believes that NMG should adopt the same standards as its European counterparts, respecting the dignity of patients and the dead.
He points out the double standards in the coverage of patients in hospitals, citing the publication of a disturbing picture in the Saturday Nation showing a wounded man being operated on in a barely functional hospital in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Thuku asks whether NMG has a code on the use of photos of people in hospitals, particularly those who are comatose, and whether they obtain consent from patients before publishing their images.
He also questions the different standards applied to Africans and Europeans when it comes to major health matters, citing the Western media's coverage of the Ebola epidemic and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Thuku is not alone in his concerns, as the world over, patient photos are protected, and journalists are required to treat patients with respect and dignity.
The NMG editorial policy has strict rules on the use of sensitive pictures, prohibiting the publication of obscene, vulgar, or offensive images unless in the public interest.
