The caller on the other end of the line is a young woman. She’s slightly embarrassed. At a job interview, her arrest for operating under the influence of alcohol on the Island came up. It became a news story because of the circumstances surrounding the arrest. She’s convinced it played a role in why she ultimately didn’t get the job.
“Is there anything you can do?” she asks the editor. She mentions that she took responsibility for her lapse in judgment. She hasn’t gotten into any trouble since, and it’s been eight years. “When someone Googles my name, this is the first thing that shows up.”
We’ve always been sympathetic to these types of stories, and now, along with other newspapers across the country, we’re looking at ways to make coverage more fair. In some places it’s called the “right to be forgotten.” The Boston Globe has called its initiative a “fresh start.”
In essence, a news organization allows an individual who has had a story in the paper about an alleged criminal act to make the case that their story should no longer be accessible to search engines on the internet. The case will be reviewed by the news organization, and a decision made. The story is not unpublished, but rather blocked from access to search engines.
“All of a sudden, the power of a search engine makes it so it’s linked to someone’s name for the rest of time, essentially,” said Jason Tuohey, an editor for the Boston Globe, who spoke at the virtual convention for the New England Newspaper and Press Association recently about his newspaper’s Fresh Start initiative. “You Google someone’s name and it comes up, and there’s no real way to escape that. That was never the point of our journalism. The goal was never to serve as a scarlet letter for someone, and a barrier to move on with their lives.”
We agree with Tuohey, and so we’re implementing a similar policy.
To be clear, this won’t rewrite history. If someone wants to find the story, they’ll still be able to find it in our archives at mvtimes.com. It just makes it more difficult to find. The story won’t be unpublished. It will be blocked from search engines. In some cases, when appropriate, online stories will be edited to provide a disposition, which is how the case was handled by the court.
We’re only talking about a small percentage of stories. These are criminal cases where someone was charged with a crime. The news organizations who have implemented this type of “fresh start” program have said it does not apply to public officials who have been charged, regardless of the disposition, and that there is a higher standard to meet for more serious crimes. We agree with those policies, and will take a similar approach.
You do not have to have been found not guilty in order to have us consider your case. If you were charged with a crime and served your sentence or your case was dismissed, we will also consider those cases.
The request must be made in writing by email to editor@mvtimes.com, and any relevant public records must also be provided. We’d also ask you to provide a link to the story you’re referencing.
The editor will review the request, and then bring his or her recommendation before the editorial board for a final decision on whether a story will be blocked from being searchable by search engines such as Google.
For The Times, this is an extension of our current policy to block search engines from our court reports. (Because this involves humans, sometimes they miss clicking the right buttons, so if you Google your name and see a court column come up with your name it, please let us know, and we’ll take care of it.)
The First Amendment gives news organizations the ability to publish stories without threat of government interference. We understand that still requires us to act responsibly and to be deliberate in our news judgment, and to treat individuals with respect. This is another way to meet that responsibility.
The Link LonkMay 06, 2021 at 03:29AM
https://www.mvtimes.com/2021/05/05/offering-fresh-start/
Offering a fresh start - Martha's Vineyard Times
https://news.google.com/search?q=fresh&hl=en-US&gl=US&ceid=US:en
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