When the news of journalist James Foley’s murder broke last week, many British newspapers published links to the propaganda video on their front pages, still photographs from his murderers’ propaganda video showing the terrified and tortured image of the journalist kneeling in the sand while his killer rants beside him.

We expressed our concern as the ethical questions raised by publication of these images had barely been addressed (see last week's blog) – killing was being used as spectacle, turning a moment of individual agony into a propaganda weapon.

Today, the brother of Ken Bigley has spoken out. Ken was taken hostage while working in Iraq and killed, meeting the same fate as James Foley. His brother Phil has written an open letter to news editors asking them not to use stills from the video released by Isis . As he points out, there can be “no public interest case for it being broadcast”. He writes on behalf of the families of hostages who are disturbed and horrified by the continued use of these images. While the Editors Code does not cover taste and decency, this should be an unnecessary request, and in any event there are elements of the Editors Code - such as instrusion into grief and privacy - that are relevant as we discussed.

James’ parents made available photographs of him doing his job and asked media outlets to use them rather than stills from the video, and that is how many people would have wanted to remember him.

We urge media outlets to respect this request of the families of hostages and remove those images that depict such horror and instill fear - which is exactly what Isis had intended. Part of the purpose of the video was humiliation, showing a Western journalist as a helpless victim, and the casual re-use of images from it performs exactly that function.

Mr Bigley says in his piece that at least the press did not help enable the video itself to be shown. But in fact, several British newspapers did provide access to the ISIS video footage on their websites. This just goes to show that whatever poor practice some people think elements of the British press indulge in, closer examination reveals it to be even worse.

Mr Bigley’s open letter to the British press can be read here in The Guardian and is set out in full below.

An open letter to journalists: no more images of James Foley’s murder

The brother of Ken Bigley writes a letter to news editors asking them not to use stills from the video released by Isis

It is now one week since images of James Foley’s murder in Syria were uploaded to YouTube, and the video began to be disseminated on social media. News organisations have, quite rightly, declined to show video footage out of respect for James and his family, and because there can be no public interest case for it being broadcast.

However, images from the video continue to be used to accompany stories relating to the case, both within printed newspapers, TV broadcasts and online.

For the families of hostages – no matter where in the world they are being held – seeing this photo whenever they turn on their computers, open a newspaper or switch on the TV is deeply upsetting. It raises fears that are unimaginable for anyone who has not been through this experience.

It is thankfully very rare for hostages to be murdered, and even rarer for it to be filmed and the footage released to the public. At Hostage UK, the organisation of which I’m a trustee, we have worked hard to help families understand this, but it does not stop them worrying that they might be seeing a new trend among kidnappers. Every time they see this image, their fears surface again.

It is now 10 years since my brother, Ken Bigley, an engineer, was taken hostage while working in Iraq and killed, meeting the same fate as James Foley. A decade later, I have the same response to that photo of James, minutes before he was murdered, as I felt back then, even though he is not my brother, not my family member.

All parents are concerned about what their children are able to access online. The children of hostages are just as likely as their parents to want to avoid this image, but are unable to escape it as it continues to be used to illustrate new stories online, on newspaper front pages and TV news bulletins. Families who are being supported by Hostage UK tell us they are unable to avoid seeing the image multiple times per day. Its continued use is causing unnecessary anguish for people who are already suffering enough.

There can be no public interest served by continuing to use this photo to illustrate stories about the latest developments in this case.

On behalf of Hostage UK, the families we support in Europe and North America, and families like mine all around the world, I urge you to stop using this photo and others like it and to remove it from your online content.

Photo Credit: Manu Brabo