10 - Blame the Law or the Media?

Further thoughts.

In the case of reporting a victim or accused/guilty's name, I don't make the rules.
I don't like hiding behind the law, but if it states that I can't name those people, I can't name them.

Part of the reason I don't name then is because I could get fined or go to prison for contempt of court...
But strictly selfish reason aside, I believe it is a morally grey area too. In the most extreme cases, I could be the root cause of a vigilante attack etc because I published a name.

In every case that I cover I have a different moral opinion about the right or wrong of publishing a name. And so does the public.

But my opinion doesn't matter then, and it never matters in any story I do.
(Why should anyone care to hear what I think, and anyway, Ofcom requires me to be neutral.)

And in these stories, the law is the law. Dont name names.

If that pisses you off, blame the law not the media.