After a four year old and five year old, while on their bicycles, accidentally ran into and knocked down a 87-year-old woman who died months later for unrelated causes, the children and their parents were sued. After the The New York Law Journal reported the names of the children, so did The New York Times. The public scrutiny of these children became a controversial matter.
To a certain extent, The Times were in their right to publish the names because it is public information. Arthur Brisbane’s Times article Names in the News, Before They Can Read quotes Times standards editor as explaining that a news organizations responsibility is to “provide information to reader, not withhold it.” As a journalism major, I agree with this.
However if I were the parents of these children, I would be upset. Although the article did not imply the children were at fault, this ordeal might have a psychological and life-long effect on them as a result of an incident that was not their fault. To reiterate, the elderly woman died three months later and for unrelated causes. But if the woman’s death had been a result of the incident, then it would have been the parents fault for not supervising their children.
There are definitely compelling points on both sides; so I am undecided.