Last Friday, the Reporter-News made a significant change to its crime reporting.
Companywide, news sites have reconsidered their policies and have been asked to make changes.
Several weeks ago, the Reporter-News began to limit the use of “mugshots” — those jailhouse photos taken of suspects in orange.
Those have been viewed as potentially prejudicial, particularly if one race is shown over and over. We did a quick survey of our use over the past and found our photos roughly matched community demographics.
Still, we limited use to major crimes, such as murder, or when a suspect may be sought and is an immediate danger to the community.
On Friday, we no longer published what often in journalism is called a “police blotter.” These are reports provided to us daily by police, the reports ranging from serious offense to routine offense and, occasionally, what has been called “stupid crook news.”
While we gave general locations, we never named the offender.
Still, the argument was made that a news site would better serve the community with more in-depth reporting. For example, if the daily reports show a rash of auto burglaries, a story on how to protect your property would be more valuable. Beyond reminding people to lock their vehicles.
A look at indictments each week sometimes turns up an interesting case. But what you notice most are the many arrests for drugs, particularly meth. The use and sale of drugs drives crime in our city, police will say. That’s the story.
We also no longer will publish indictments.
One strong reason behind this decision is that news organizations cannot follow through on the outcome. Arrests and indictments are accusations. A final decision will follow. But when? And if it’s not a major trial, how would we know if the accused is cleared?
With the advent of the internet, these stories linger for years. More often, we are contacted about “taking down a story” because the accused is not found guilty. Or, that person had one lapse in judgment, was punished and has moved on. But search for his or her name, and that incident comes up.
Obviously, major crimes — murder, assault and crimes against children, for example — should not vanish and be diminished.
By focusing on that, we can do a better job of reporting the impact that policing practices have on crime reduction and public safety in our city.
This is not being soft on crime but more focused.
Abilene Reporter News
