| OCR Text |
Show HOW SHOULD NEWSPAPERS HANDLE STORIES ON MINORS IN TROUBLE? EDITOR'S NOTE The question of whether a newspaper news-paper editor should include the names of juveniles in news stories pertaining to violations of the' law, has been debated ofttimes in the presence of the editor of this paper. No conclusion con-clusion has been reached, and our policy has been to leave the names out. Whether we are right or not 'is a matter not to be decided at this time', . . However, a fine article was clipped clip-ped this week from the Publisher's Auxiliary and is being re- J . printed for the pleasure of our readers. . . If you have an idea write this newspaper about it and we'll be happy to share your opinions with other readers. Every Editor must face', from time to time, a request that a certain person's name be left out of the newspaper. The circumstances are usually such that the person involved in-volved would rather not have' them revealed to his friends and fellow citizens. Sometimes it is hard to refuse such a request, but the editor of integrity, if the item is legitimate' news, will have to dt so. He may point out that his job is to report what happens, and he can hardly place himself in a position to judge what shall go in and what shall not. His duty to community is to give them the news. There' are circumstances, however, where more than the consideration of an individual is concerned. One example we are all familiar with is the handling of cases' involving teen age boys and girls who have been arrested, and possible sentenced to an industrial school. Many newspapers have a policy of reporting such stories, but withholding names. Their reasons usually are that they do not want to harm reputations of those so young, or bring added grief to the' parents. Other newspapers print the names, on the basic theory that they have no right to withhold news, and for the more specific reason that such publicity may help to reduce the crime rate in the area. Another reason often cited is that such events as the arrest of juveniles seldom remains a secret anyway. The ' story is passed by word of mouth, probably being distorted as it goes along. The end result may make the whole situation sit-uation seem worse than it actually was. When this is the' case, the newspaper is certainly doing a service to those involved by printing the actual facts, Vic Sherow, editor of the Gallipolis (Ohio) Tribune, is now very much involved in a case of this kind. Mr. Sherow did print the names of five juveniles sentenced to an industrial school. He was cited for contempt of court, since the judge in the . case had instructed that the names not be printed. Mr. Sherow is now appealing the case, and he hopes the higher court's decision de-cision will set a precedent in Ohio. It would be well to have the legal question decided, although al-though in most places, as we understand it, the policy of printing name's of juvenile offenders is left to the discretion of the newspaper. Generally, we are opposed' to secrecy in any form.. If our country is to remain free, government must be conducted within with-in open sight of the people. i Juvenile courts hardly seem an exception. Actually, if the courts are closed to the press, and thus to the public, it is possible for many abuses to arise in those courts. True, most juvenile judges are sincere men, honestly trying try-ing to help the unfortunate young who have' gotten into trouble. trou-ble. But how are we to know if there may be those who are not just, if the court proceedings are conducted in darkness? We would not go so far, however, as to say that there aren't cases where the editor may feel it best to withhold names. But we feel such a decision should come only after consultation with the judge, and a mutual agreement that this is the better course. And we think those cases should be few. For, again, the editor's responsibility is to the community as a whole', and it is not right for either him or the judge to become a censor on what the community shall or shall not know. Publishers' Auxiliary 30 |
