Newspaper went too far…
Dear Sirs,
I am new to the Jefferson area. As soon as I moved to town, I subscribed to your newspaper because I wanted to know what was going on in my new community. I was disturbed about an article in your most recent issue. The article to which I am referring was the one about the student being arrested after a gun was found in his backpack.
Of course, finding a gun in the school was a frightening situation and one that had to be addressed both by school officials and local law enforcement. The young man accused of the crime deserved to be arrested and taken into custody. There is no doubt that this is a serious issue. I do not know the young man nor do I have a student in the JISD. Still I have to wonder—was it really necessary to identify the student by name in the newspaper? By publishing his name, you have made it that much more difficult for this student to ever have the opportunity to change his ways and possibly finish his education. It seems to me that you could have written this story and reported on the action taken by the school district and law enforcement without including the name of the 17 year old young man who is accused. If publishing his name is not illegal, it is at the very least unethical.
Shirley Latham
Jefferson, Texas
Newspaper responds…
Editor’s note: The Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics advises journalists and editors to explain their news judgement openly whenenver it is questioned.
It is in this spirit that we’ve decided to share our repsonse to Mrs. Latham’s letter with our readers.
It is as follows:
Mrs. Latham,
Thank you for your readership and your submission. Your letter will run in this week’s issue.
We agree, this is an interesting point of view. It is a question we discussed at length. The short answer on legality, is no. It is not illegal to print a minor’s name. As long as you can validate the sourcing, names are fair game legally— 17 or 7, there are no laws broken by naming anyone.
But, to your second notion— is it ethical? That is a question editors wrestle with daily. Newspapers vary on policy. Our’s is, “if they are arrested, charged and treated as an adult by the justice system— they are treated as an adult in the newspaper.”
The subject in this case is 17, so he’s technically an adult now. He was booked into the Marion County Jail where he slept with other adult inmates. His mugshot is a matter of public record— though we stopped short of running it in the paper. That, we thought, would have been a step too far.
Age and arrest status aside, we also considered the following:
While Jefferson ISD withheld his name due to TEA guidelines, he was identified online by an Aunt and Cousin in comments to the school’s social media posting and press release.
The local law enforcement all identified him by name, because he’s considered an adult in Texas.
His own mother and a cousin were OK with his name being published\— we asked when we talked to them in our reporting.
Some standards have changed at news outlets in recent years in the wake of the social media revolution.
Fifteen years ago, many newspapers wouldn’t ID 17-year olds who were arrested (still, even then, many would). The norms have shifted. Sadly, perhaps, but they have shifted nonetheless.
The fact is, these days, social media fills with speculation as soon as incidences like this occur. Stories are validated online before they are published in the newspaper— as happened here when family members identified the alleged online before the newspaper published the story..
Some of the online speculation is founded. Much of it is not. But, nonetheless, folks are talking about things online.
As such, often the facts are skewed and the rumor mill churns. It as our responsibility to tell the truth and make sure the narrative is correct. It’s more important know than ever.
In the end, these are fine lines that are sometimes hard to balance. In this case, it is a balancing act we struck and one we stand behind.
Again, thank you for your feedback. We love letters to the editor and it run this week.
I just wanted you to know that there was a process in place and discussion held beforehand.
Have a great rest of your week!
Austin Lewter
Co-Publisher