After Fox News posted video on its website of the Islamic State burning a hostage alive, an executive for the channel told TPM on Wednesday that the “barbarity of ISIS” had trumped concerns over showing the graphic footage.
In an email to TPM, the company issued a statement from John Moody, executive vice president and executive editor for Fox News Channel, explaining the decision to publish the video of Jordanian pilot Muath Al-Kaseasbeh being set on fire in a cage.
“After careful consideration, we decided that giving readers of FoxNews.com the option to see for themselves the barbarity of ISIS outweighed legitimate concerns about the graphic nature of the video,” the statement said. “Online users can choose to view or not view this disturbing content.”
Fox News posted the 22-minute video online on Tuesday night, hours after the channel aired a graphic still image from the video.
A terror expert quickly criticized the decision to publish the video, telling the Guardian that doing so amounted to “working for al-Qaida and Isis’ media arm.”