The Associated Press new policy on crime reporting practices for minor crimes

One of the world’s biggest newsgathering organizations, the Associated Press pledged to no longer run the names of people charged with minor crimes, out of concern that such stories can have a long, damaging afterlife on the internet that can make it hard for individuals to move on with their lives. The AP, in a directive sent out to its journalists across the United States, said it will no longer name suspects or transmit photographs of them in brief stories about minor crimes when there is little chance the organization will cover the case beyond the initial arrest. The policy will not apply to serious crimes, such as those involving violence or abuse of the public trust, or cases of a fugitive on the run.

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