When a 14-year-old was robbed at gunpoint while waiting for his school bus last week, the “if-it-bleeds-it-leads” TV news stations jumped on the story. Now the mother of the victim says the reporting of the robbery at a north Charlotte bus stop put her son in danger.
“They exposed him,” said Maedora Thomas.
The teenager was waiting for his bus at a stop on Tom Hunter Road on Sept. 8 when three thieves approached. One man pointed a gun at him and took his MP3 music player and wallet.
That itself was definitely a story that every Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools parent would want to know. But some newscasts went further, describing the teen in various detail: WBTV’s Web site identified him by name and what school he attends. WSOC’s Web site tells what school he goes to, but doesn’t give his name. News Channel 14 didn’t identify the student in its online story. WCNC’s Web site lists the boy’s name, shows a video, and has a photograph of the boy on its site.
Thomas said that her son’s name and picture are entirely too much information to disclose about a 14-year-old crime victim. She fears that the colors the robbers were wearing indicate the crime may be gang-related and her son could face repercussions.
It’s a fear that one media ethicist said shouldn’t be necessary. While the story was of legitimate public interest, news organizations should have protected the 14-year-old’s identity, said Tom Huang, an ethics fellow at the Poynter Institute for Media Studies, a nonprofit journalism think tank in St. Petersburg, Fla.
When minors are interviewed, journalists need to treat them as a protected class, Huang said.
“He’s potentially in danger, and by identifying the 14-year-old, the family has been put in jeopardy. We’re used to seeing stories on television where the faces are obscured or where the child’s full name isn’t given,” Huang said. “They should have talked to the custodial parent, and they needed to think about the consequences.”
In fact, reporters appear to have had approval from the boy’s father, who is quoted in online stories. But Thomas said she is the custodial parent, and no reporter asked her permission to use her son’s name or image.
WBTV’s news director, Dennis Milligan, didn’t return a message left by Creative Loafing by press time.
WCNC news director Mary Alvarez said that the station thought it was fine to use the boy’s name because the boy’s father was with the victim while he was interviewed. Asked about the fact that the father is not the custodial parent, Alvarez said she couldn’t answer that question.
Alvarez added that there have been times when children have been victims of “horrible crimes” and their parents did grant the station permission to do an interview.
“In those cases, we chose not to identify the child,” she said. “We take precautions to protect children.”
Alvarez said a parent’s identity is concealed when a child’s identity isn’t revealed in a story. She said she would discuss with the mother removing the bus stop story from the Web site.
Since the news coverage, Thomas said, she has been keeping a close eye on her son and she’s not allowing him to go outside as much as she used to. She’s considering moving.
Huang said danger isn’t the only side effect of the publicity. “The 14-year-old is now branded as a crime victim,” he said. “He faces potential embarrassment at school.”
No arrests had been made as of press time.
After the robbery, CMS moved the location of the bus stop, a school system spokeswoman said.
But the identity of this child can’t be taken back. “This could be on the Internet forever,” Huang said. “It’s hard to retract that information.”
This article appears in Sep 16-23, 2008.
