Newspaper Deletes Photo of Unconscious Motorbike Rider After Backlash

During the MotoGP race yesterday in Barcelona, a horrific accident occurred when one of the motorcycle riders crashed into the back of another at high speed. In such cases, producers and editors must tread carefully about what they show, and it seems at least one newspaper got it wrong.

El Mundo is the second-largest printed daily newspaper in Spain. Still, it received considerable backlash after sharing a dramatic photo of rider Alex Marquez lying face-down on the ground, apparently unconscious. Marquez bore the worst of the horrible accident that saw him completely lose control of his bike before being thrown off it and tumbling down the track. The photos of the crash (top two below) and the live feed footage tell the story of just how bad it was.

It has since been reported that Marquez suffered a neck vertebra fracture and a right collarbone fracture during the crash. But before his condition was known, El Mundo published a distressing photo of the Spanish rider face-down on the ground on both its website and X page that a trackside photographer took.

After considerable backlash on X (formerly Twitter), El Mundo deleted the Tweet; the photo remains on the website, but with the information that Marquez is okay. Even Marquez’s team, Gresini Racing, criticized El Mundo in a post.

While some were quick to blame the photographer, MotoGP journalist Simon Patterson says it’s not their fault. “I’ve been in a situation like this as a photographer, and you shoot what you see,” Patterson writes on X. “It is useful to the medical team, it is useful to tell the story when you know everyone is ok, and these days the photos will automatically upload from camera to website anyway.”

As Patterson notes, many pro photographers covering big events will work with an editor who sees what they are shooting in real time and sends the photos out to interested publications. Ultimately, the decision to publish a photo lies with an editor at one of those newspapers or websites. “They did so knowing that it is dramatic, that it would make the non-bike fan click,” adds Patterson.

Marquez has since posted a photo of himself from a hospital bed wearing a neck brace. The rider says, “Everything is under control,” and he underwent surgery yesterday.

It was an awful situation that unfolded yesterday. Nobody wants to see people hurt, but motorbike racing is an inherently dangerous sport, and accidents do happen. MotoGP has been criticized in the past for focusing too much on violent crashes, but it seems obvious that the condition of a rider should be ascertained before upsetting photos and videos are published. El Mundo is a respected publication, and the fact that it deleted its Tweet clearly shows that this was one judgment call it got wrong.

Image credits: Header photo licensed via Depositphotos.