Social media reports have condemned Western tabloid newspapers for their coverage of the New Zealand attack and their attempts to “humanise” the main suspect.
At least 49 people were killed and 40 others were injured in the twin attacks by the Australian suspect Brenton Tarrant, who allegedly shot dozens of worshippers in the New Zealand district of Christchurch.
Labelled him as an “angelic boy who grew into an evil -right mass killer” British tabloid, Daily Mirror, released a photo of Tarrant as a young boy and described him as “a likeable and dedicated personal trainer running free athletic programmes for kids”.
Reacting to the report, British columnist Owen Jones condemned the tabloid’s coverage saying it had displaced the focus from the victims to the perpetrator, who he called a “terrorist”.
