With the large volume of information printed in the Deseret News every day, we invariably make someone mad.
For example, a lady called recently, angry because we had printed the name of a man charged with sexual abuse.She said the man was trying to get therapy and become a contributing member of the community again. His efforts at rehabilitation were hindered by the publicity.
She didn't think "personal business" ought to be printed in the newspaper.
These are issues and questions that editors wrestle with and lose sleep over. We are concerned about invasion of privacy and we recognize that unwanted publicity can be extremely damaging in many ways.
We do not go about our business cavalierly and we feel the weight of our responsibility when we put someone's name, in a negative light, out before thousands of readers.
But we do, routinely, (as do other papers across the state and country) print the names of people arrested for serious crimes. Some papers even print the names of all drunken drivers and people charged with sex solicitation.
We don't print those, except in selected cases, but we do print names in more serious cases.
We recognize, of course, that anyone accused of a crime is innocent until proven guilty. Once a name is printed in the paper, we are obligated to follow the case through the court system and publish the final outcome of guilt or innocence.
Printing the names of accused people is a protection to both the public and the accused. Publicity helps ensure due process will be followed. And the public is made aware of a possibly dangerous person.
In addition, publicity may serve as something of a deterrent. While we believe privacy is very important and newspapers should not intrude except where absolutely necessary, we believe that a person who commits a crime loses a portion of that right to privacy.
Anyone contemplating committing a crime ought to be aware of the very good chance that his name will end up in the newspaper in a very unfavorable light.
His reputation will be damaged, his family hurt, his neighbors upset. Unwanted publicity is part of the price to be paid.
The system doesn't work perfectly, by any means. Sometimes the publicity is unwarranted. Often innocent people, especially family members, are hurt.
But the overall interests of society are still best served when the media fully and vigorously cover crime. And that includes printing the names of the accused.