You may not have noticed, but there has been some small changes to the way we handle certain press releases from the police now.
We get media releases daily from the Guelph Police Service and the Wellington County OPP.
Guelph police (with the odd exception) do not include the names of those charged. OPP do, for all charges except those where the revealing identity might also reveal the identity of the victim.
Wellington County releases, which arrive at all times of the day and week, include occurrences where individuals have been charged under the Highway Traffic Act with racing, which is someone caught doing in excess of 50 km/h over the speed limit.
Traditionally we have run these releases, putting the name of the person caught speeding on our site and on the Internet, forever. They are not criminals. They were speeding. Had they been doing 1 km/h less, they wouldn't have had their names in a media release. Had they done it on a city street instead of in OPP territory, their names wouldn't have made a media release.
Had they stabbed someone on a city street, their name wouldn't have been released. But excessive speeding on the Hanlon puts them on the Internet forever.
So we have decided that we will no longer print the names of individuals charged with racing on GuelphToday. We feel it is unfair, given the non-criminal nature of the charge, to have that in the public sphere where it can, and has, affected someone's ability to move forward with their lives.
Go for a job, they Google your name. Does a heavy foot three years ago warrant you not getting a job because your names pops up in that search?
There will be the odd exception, judgment calls, where we feel the racing charge might have more news merit (perhaps going 200 km/h over the speed limit or doing it in a school zone), but if it doesn't lead to any further incident or charge, we generally won't be printing those names anymore.
In essence, we feel it is doing more harm than good.
Yes, an argument can be made about other minor charges, but those charges tend to be Criminal Code charges. Racing is not.
It's a judgment call, and one that even within our own organization many feel is wrong, but nonetheless we have made that call.
As for the Guelph Police, the change is less drastic but probably more noticeable..
Their release comes in usually in the early morning, one email containing a number of reports that the police feel are newsworthy. Guelph Police does not (with the rare exception) release the names of those charged.
We have made the decision that these releases will not, for the most part, be ran as a strict "news release." Instead we will rewrite these, making subtle changes to their presentation. The reason for doing this is that press releases often don't come written in the Canadian Press format endorsed by most media, sometimes have spelling mistakes, can inadvertently contain language the depicts an accused as guilty and are sometimes a little too "police speak" for our readers.
Mostly, what is the most newsworthy element of an item to the person writing the releases at the Guelph Police Headquarters might not be the most newsworthy or interesting element to our readers.
We don't change the most important thing, of course, which are the details of the incident. We are just taking more care about how they are presented.
Small changes. But both important ones.
