By Tom Hanson
Naples NewsPublished: 5/3/06
Excerpt:
It's one thing to name names in crime stories before the person is
convicted. It's another thing to name minors who are accused of
committing a crime.
The arrests of three children, ranging in age from 10 to 14, in
connection with starting this past weekend's destructive brush fires in
Lehigh Acres has disturbed many people. But the fact that two local
news organizations printed the names of these children is equally
disturbing.
The Daily News and Waterman Broadcasting, which runs both NBC-2 and
ABC-7, gave the names, ages and addresses of the accused. Waterman even
showed their mug shots on air. On the other hand, Fox-4, WINK-TV and
The News-Press in Fort Myers didn’t announce or print the names of the
accused because of their ages.
Does a 10-year-old truly understand his actions? Is this fair to a
kid who may not even face any jail time? Or is naming young kids in
crime stories a sign of our news-thirsty times? Scott Libin, a
management and faculty leader at the Poynter Institute in St.
Petersburg, said children's identities in crime-related stories still
are protected but the times are changing.
"If it is true and it is accurate, and both of those seem to be the case here, then you don't need a good reason to report, you need a good
reason not to report it," Libin said. "The question is: Does the age of
the children constitute a good reason? Generally we have come down on
the side of granting children that young a special measure of
protection on the belief that they are not truly responsible."
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