Tt post may 10 2016 a

April 3, 2016 column by Toledo Blade ombudsman Jack Lessenberry titled:

• Blade’s naming of minors an uncommon — but appropriate — choice

Excerpts:

Recently The Blade did something it — and most other newspapers — very seldom do: The paper printed the names of three juveniles charged with criminal offenses in two separate school bullying cases.

When one reader saw that, he left me a message saying “Isn’t that illegal? Isn’t naming minors against the law?”

Well, no, it isn’t, not in Ohio nor Michigan. The editors told me this does not represent any major change in direction for The Blade, nor an attempt to sensationalize the news.

“We consider naming juveniles charged with serious crimes, and usually have a discussion among multiple editors before doing so. These were cases of severe school bullying, and we decided to name the suspects,” said Dave Murray, The Blade’s managing editor.

“With so many teenagers committing suicide or having lasting damages done to their lives, this has become a very serious situation. Juveniles who engage in such bullying and have criminal charges filed against them should expect to have their names printed in news stories in The Blade,” he added.

Kids can be excruciatingly cruel. Do you think he will ever hear the last of that all the time he is in school? The editors told me their decision to name these kids came after prosecutors saw fit to charge them with serious offenses — a second-degree felony in the case of the Middleton youth.

Your ombudsman thinks there was nothing unethical about the newspaper naming these three — especially in a world where, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, more than two million students are the victims of cyberbullying every year.

16 years ago ... April 2000 Blade column by Lessenberry:

Police entered an Ottawa Hills home shortly after dawn on March 26 and arrested 13 teens after what appeared to have been an all-night, underage drinking party.

Normally, The Blade doesn't use the names of minors charged with crimes, except in very rare exceptions - and some members of the public were outraged. The story "makes not only The Blade look bad, but also the whole community," one reader wrote.

Why did The Blade use the names? "This wasn't a decision taken lightly," said Luann Sharp, an assistant managing editor.

#media