What would you print? readers were asked in a May 6 column that urged them to consider what people who rely on the newspaper need to know about the world around them.
Most of the 40 people who answered (along with high school students from Bristol and Hartford) would not have published names or other detail in the examples that were derived from articles published in The Courant.
The one case in which a majority would have included the detail involved identifying a man who had allegedly threatened to kill his wife.
The May 6 quiz was not a scientific survey and people concerned about protecting privacy would be more inclined to respond.
Privacy has become an issue all over the country.
Earlier this month, Carol Young, the deputy executive editor of the Providence Journal, held a roundtable discussion among 30 readers and journalists from her newspaper to discuss the publication of names. She was trained as a reporter to give readers as much information as possible. (“Get every fact, every figure, middle initial. Check it three times. Get it in.”)
The subjects of news articles might have raised similar objections in the past, she noted. “They might have called, and we just blew them off. Now we think we have an obligation to explain to people why we do what we do.”
Paul McMasters, the First Amendment ombudsman for the Freedom Forum, a Virginia-based journalism foundation, worries that newspapers have begun to withhold information because of misguided concerns about privacy.
“How does democracy function if everyone withdraws into their own cocoon?” he asks.
In the first example, two women — 76 and 81 years old — suffered injuries in assaults near a supermarket. One of the women agreed to be interviewed, but her son later requested that her name be withheld. Should readers be told who was assaulted?
“There is no need to expose people who are already victims to further victimization,” wrote Peter Das of Suffield. He was one of the 77 percent of respondents who would not have revealed the women’s names.
“Their names are part of the story. I’d want to know who the victims are,” Jo Ann Abella of Glastonbury argued in favor of publication. “The press has a responsibility to do its job regardless of what people feel.”
On the other hand, nearly 70 percent of those responding would have published the name of a man charged with threatening to murder his wife. “Neighbors, school authorities and other who know him might be in a position to protect his family once they know of the threat,” wrote Patricia Kilbourn of West Hartford.
“There’s an unstable person in the community and people in the community have a right to know he’s there for the safety of the community,” said Jordan Hedgecock, a sophomore at Bristol Eastern High School.
The contents of a barn that was saved from a nearby fire on a windy day in the third hypothetical example would not have been revealed by more than 80 percent of those who responded. Firefighters, proud to have saved the building, told the reporter that valuable antique musical instruments were kept there.
“The fact that the fire was prevented from spreading to nearby buildings should be mentioned, but what the buildings contained is not significant,” said Linda Sheffield of New Hartford. “Unless, perhaps, the building was a fireworks factory.”
The last example involved a personal essay by a reporter about a high school friend who, in the hypothetical example, had killed three former classmates and himself 20 years ago.
More than two-thirds of those responding would not have identified the killer. Some made a distinction between the need for specifics in a news article compared to a personal commentary.
Deborah Petersen Swift, the writer of the essay on which the example was based, was ambivalent about identifying the man who committed the crimes, but supplied his name after the editors of the opinion pages, where her article appeared, insisted that it be included.
She had mixed feelings, she said, because she knew his family, although “as a journalist, I strongly believe that using names and other specific information brings a higher level of accountability. Readers can verify facts and circumstances when real names and places are cited.”
I’m still not sure how I would have responded to all of the questions.
However, if newspapers do not provide enough detail and specifics about their communities, how will people know what took place and whether they can believe what they read?
Results of reader responses to questions posed May 6:
- A woman, 76, is waiting at a bus stop outside the supermarket when someone snatches her purse and punches her in the face. Her nose is broken. The next day, another woman, 81, is assaulted at the same place, and her wrist is broken. The attacker seems to work with a friend. A man has been charged with both assaults and is in jail, awaiting trial. The son of one of the victims, after learning that a reporter has interviewed her about the incident, asks that her name not be published. He argues that publication would bring even further pain to women whose privacy and sense of safety have been violated. A friend of the attacker might want to retaliate. The reporter notes that the names of the women are publicly available in police and court records. The alleged attacker is in jail. Everyone in town will want to know who was hurt outside the supermarket. Would you include the women’s names in the article about the assaults? Yes, 23 percent; No, 77 percent.
- A man who is separated from his wife goes to find her while she is waiting to pick up their children from school. He tells her he plans to buy the same kind of hunting knives that were allegedly used by the Vermont teenagers charged with murdering two Dartmouth professors and end the misery she is causing him. She calls police, who charge him with threatening to kill her. A neighbor, seeing a reporter in court, asks that the man’s name not be published to protect the wife and children from further pain over the incident. The reporter argues that public should know that this man, who still lives in town, has been charged with threatening to murder his wife. Would you publish the man’s name? Yes, 69 percent; No, 31 percent.
- A serious fire on a windy day threatens to spread to neighboring homes and garages. After nine hours, firefighters contain the blaze and keep the flames away from nearby buildings. They tell a reporter that they are especially proud that they saved a barn where valuable antique guitars and other musical instruments are being restored. The man overhears the conversation and asks that the reporter not disclose what he keeps in his unlocked barn. Do you report the items that town firefighters saved by containing the blaze? Yes, 18 percent No, 82 percent.
- After students were killed at a California high school, a reporter decides to write an essay about her own encounters with guns and violence when a friend shot three classmates to death and then killed himself 20 years ago. The shootings received press coverage at the time, but the families, who still live in the area, have tried to make new lives for themselves since then. Many of their current friends and co-workers don’t know what happened 20 years ago. On the other hand, identifying the shooter by name lends greater reality and specificity to what took place and reminds readers that teenage violence can happen anywhere. Do you include the name of the boy who shot his classmates? Yes, 33 percent; No, 67 percent.
