Until a few years ago, the networks wouldn’t show gay couples kissing. Today, some newsrooms still have policies that discourage running photos or video of same-sex couples kissing, says Poynter’s Kelly McBride in a piece headlined “Gay Marriage Images: How Will You Play the Kiss?”

KPIX CBS5 reporter Joe Vazquez talked to McBride. She says that there was a negative backlash four years ago when same sex marriage first made a national splash. People said they didn’t want to see that image on TV or in their local newspaper.

Now, she says photo editors are trying to find ways to tell the story beyond the kiss: “The kissing photo is one image of many that represents this moment in time, so editors are thinking about how to create the deepest understanding of this issue for the largest number of people.”

Because of the backlash, McBride says photos of the kiss had the potential to turn viewers away, so editors are now trying to find a way to tell the story so that their audience can hear it. (Photo credit: Justin Sullivan, Getty Images via CBS5 Web site)