Is Luigi Mangione Too Hot for the New York Times?

Supposedly the New York Times has found a solution to control the on-going popularity of Luigi Mangione: don't show his face.

"Yesterday the New York Times instructed staff to avoid publishing photos of Luigi Mangione's face, internal company messages leaked to me reveal," independent journalist Ken Klippenstein tweeted.

He elaborated on his blog: "Internal New York Times messages about its coverage of alleged gunman Luigi Mangione have been leaked to me and the contents are revealing. On Tuesday, management said 'the news value and public service of showing his face is diminishing,' instructing staff to 'dial back' its use of such photos. It also directed that Luigi's 'manifesto' not be published in the paper,"

"The directive was heeded," he continued. "If you visit Times' front-page story today on the shooter, it features Mangione's back as he was being marched to his arraignment in Altoona, Pennsylvania. Another Times story today on Mangione's notebook features a photo of a generic police-tape barricade."

Klippenstein believes that "the New York Times is putting its own thumb on the information scale, having appointed itself an enforcer of public safety,' And to make his point he quotes from the leaked memo in which the newspaper's photo editor Clinton Cargill writes: "The news value and public service of showing his face is declining," As fpr the 'manifesto, editor Andrea Kannapell writes: "I think we will still not pub the whole thing so as not to provide bullhorn."

The strikingly good-looking Mangione has become a folk hero to many since his identity was revealed when he was caught at a McDonald's in Altoona, PA earlier this week, He is accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in a brazen public shooting last week in New York City.

It appears, though, that limiting pics of Mangione has been a policy that the Times editors have been practicing since his arrest. While the Times has published dozens of stories related to the murderer, only a few show his face.

In one repeatedly used image, he is seen far afar, but with his face in profile fully lit. The photo is credited to Rachel Wisniewski for The New York Times. A second use of the photo zooms in on his face. Otherwise he is seen wearing a mask. His mugshot, widely seen on television, was not published. Most other stories related to Mangione feature more generic images. Ironically Only a piece in the Style section concerning how his good looks are contributing to his folk hero status showed him full-face, looking down as he left a Pennsylvania court room this week. The image came from Getty Images.

Klippenstein runs a subscription Substack with more than 100,000 followers.

He went viral recently for having published Mangione's manifesto, as well as his personal details. He claims that media outlets received the full manifesto, but refused to published all of it, reports The Daily Caller. Mangione is the accused killer of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in a brazen public shooting last week in New York City.

"I queried the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN and NBC to at least give them a chance to make their case for withholding the Luigi Mangione manifesto. They didn't even respond!" he wrote.

"CNN covered portions of the manifesto, though the outlet quoted selective passages rather than publishing the entire document," The Daily Caller writes. "CNN's digital and broadcast coverage revealed lines from the document including "These parasites had it coming" and 'I do apologize for any strife and trauma, but it had to be done.' The network cited police sources familiar with the document for their coverage of the lines."

"In Mangione's brief manifesto, he detailed his broad frustration with the American healthcare, claiming the United States is first in healthcare spending but ranks 42nd in life expectancy."