You’ve probably heard that the Winnipeg Police are going to start releasing the names of those people charged with drinking and driving this holiday season, however, the Winnipeg Free Press has decided that it’s not going to publish the names.
“The Winnipeg Free Press believes posting the names of all charged drivers presumes they are guilty before being proven innocent,” said Free Press Editor Margo Goodhand.
“The paper does not agree with this principle, and therefore will not be participating in this campaign.”
Yet the paper routinely publishes the names of people charged with — but not yet found guilty of — a wide assortment of other crimes. In today’s paper alone there are “names named” in stories about alleged bank robberies, murders, forgeries, religious hatred, and fraud.
I’m not saying I necessarily agree with the public shaming approach the police are taking (and why only during the holidays?), but it’s clear the paper is being a bit hypocritical here. How can you “not agree in principle” with naming those accused of one crime, but think it’s perfectly fine to name those accused of almost everything else? Maybe the fuzz should be staking out the Freep’s Christmas party…
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: media hypocrisy, Winnipeg Free Press
