Several readers have already written in to protest The Times’s use of a particularly graphic photograph on the home page on Monday. It showed a gunman, in suit and tie, standing beside the body of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey, whom the shooter had killed moments earlier. I asked Phil Corbett, associate masthead editor for standards and ethics, who was involved in the decision to use the photo, to explain the editors’ thinking.

Liz Spayd: Can you describe for readers how these decisions are made? Who is involved, and how do you weigh the sometimes intangible concept of news value against considerations of offending readers or the families of victims?

Phil Corbett: In a situation like this, the discussion about using a photo would start with the editors handling the story, the photo editors and the editors overseeing how stories are being played on the home page and on our mobile feed. In the case of a big breaking story, or a particularly sensitive photo, a masthead-level editor is likely to be involved as well.

In this case, I think we all agreed that the picture should be on the home page. First off, it’s an important news story, given the Russian involvement in Syria and the tensions among various countries and factions. And the picture very clearly shows the shocking nature of the attack — much more powerfully, I think, than a mere description in the story itself. The well-dressed gunman, the elegant setting — all of this is part of the news value. And while the picture is startling, it’s not gory or sensational in a gratuitous way.