►The Associated Press publishes stories about private people arrested on misdemeanor charges, because stories such as “a person arrested for stripping naked and dancing drunkenly atop a bar” may draw interest from readers.
But in 2021, the AP stopped identifying the non-public figures who were arrested. The AP said it will not name the arrested person when there is “little chance the organization will cover the case beyond the initial arrest” and the name is not newsworthy beyond the local level.
The AP also noted concern about stories having “long, damaging afterlife on the internet” for that private person, which is tied to the SPJ Code’s “Minimize harm” concern about “the long-term implications of the extended reach and permanence of publication.”
Source: https://apnews.com/article/crime-technology-df0a7cd66590d9cb29ed1526ec03b58f
►While people in the public eye do newsworthy things, the SPJ Code recognizes that not everything about a public figure should be printed. Some examples:
- When does exposing private facts about public figures’ lives cross an ethical line? Media ethicist Thomas Bivens’ explored USA Today’s decision to out the late Arthur Ashe’s HIV diagnosis.
- The Poynter Institute’s Kelly McBride, in an interview about using leaked medical records of Olympic athletes, said the information was clearly newsworthy, but linking to the original diagnostic documents was problematic because they may not make sense to the layperson, and they tend to glorify the hackers.
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