4 ms·
Even more so than the sex offender registry, I think US news reporting is more problematic. I wish the US were more like Germany (I think?) in the regard that t
by Forbo 8y ago
Even more so than the sex offender registry, I think US news reporting is more problematic. I wish the US were more like Germany (I think?) in the regard that they don't identify people by name until conviction. By that time, there's less interest in sensationalizing a story.
- specialist 8y agoI strongly support this strategy. It'd reduce both witchhunts and copycats.
- donatj 8y agoI wasn't aware Germany did that, but that is great. Right now an accusation can ruin your life even if later corrected. It's not how society should function.
- jfim 8y agoIt's definitely a cultural thing in the US to identify and show people that have purportedly committed crimes prior to their conviction. This article shows a Canadian perspective on how France and the US looked at the media during the DSK affair a while ago: https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2011/05/20/dominique_strausskahns_walk_of_shame.html https://www.thestar.com/news/insight/2011/05/20/dominique_st... You can see how the different perspectives clash.
- Thiez 8y agoIn the Netherlands it is customary (but not mandatory) for the media to include only the first letter of the last name for people who are not yet convicted. So when John Smith is in the news as the prime suspect of a murder, he will be referred to as John S. There are some exceptions, e.g. when someone is already a public figure, or when someone actually seeks the media attention. Sometimes the last-name omission looks a bit silly because many other countries (such as the USA) will publish the full name, so for high profile cases one can generally find the full names just by searching online. That said the system works pretty well because people generally don't bother looking up the full names.