Philippine Daily Inquirer, apologizes before the public for publishing photos on their front page that offended their readers.
The man in the controversial front page photo is Demetrio Vicente, a witness for the defense team of the Corona impeachment trial.
“It has come to our attention that our photo of witness Demetrio Vicente on our front page today has offended some of our readers. For this we sincerely apologize. It was not our intention to disparage Mr. Vicente in any way,” Inquirer said on its official Facebook account.
The front page photo featured four (4) photos of Demetrio Vicente in a not-so-good poses with the caption: Character witness: The many faces of Demetrio Vicente on the witness stand. He’s no ordinary witness after all. He’s the cousin of the Chief Justice whose wife sold him seven parcels of land in 1990, where he now grows bonsai.
The photos show asymmetry in his face which is the result stroke, he previously undergone with. Vicente even apologized before the senate for being not able to talk clearly because of his condition.
After the photo gone viral on the web, netizens didn't find the photos on the front page good and they claim it to be insensitive, malicious, etc.
Inquirer replied in one of the comments posted on social networking site Twitter, saying “the point was we didn’t find it funny nor was it our intention to make fun. Those were the only photos available.”
Media watchdog Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility deemed that Inquirer violated their own rules and it was a violation of the ethical mandates of responsible journalism.
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