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I can second this. You don't read the full names of suspects (!) in a newspaper in Germany. I believe this is actually due to the law here (e.g. if they're inno
by archi42 7y ago
I can second this. You don't read the full names of suspects (!) in a newspaper in Germany. I believe this is actually due to the law here (e.g. if they're innocent, their name is not ruined). That is somewhat relaxed, as long as they're not a public figure (e.g. no one would say "Angela M. is suspected to be a physicist" if it's about the German Chancellor) and as long as it's clear from the article that they're not (yet) convicted.
Can't speak for the rest of Europe of course.
- Doxin 7y agoWell I dunno about germany but over here in the netherlands there's no real law about not using full names. However if a paper does use someones full name and then that person gets their reputation ruined they will usually get a lower sentence if guilty. The idea being that getting your reputation ruined is a punishment in itself.
- Confusion 7y agoThere is currently a court case against a drugs kingpin where one of the reputable newspapers does mention his full name, but each time followed by "-- the suspect's lawyer has indicated the suspect has no objection to his full name being used" (once per article of course)
- hobofan 7y ago"Proper" newspapers don't, but yellow press (e.g. BILD) which is consumed by a large chunk of the German population doesn't really care that much about preserving privacy or correctly reporting on conviction status.