Reporting on minor crimes, especially in the local papers, is often about an odd or entertaining quirk and the name of the person does not really matter. However, in the age of Google search, these stories live on for decades and ruin people's chances to get a new job or get into relationships.
This is why Associated Press (AP), decided to rethink the way its reporters tell stories of minor offences. John Daniszewski, standards vice president at AP, talks about the reason behind these new guidelines in this piece for IJNet, penned by Maggie Jones Patterson and Romayne Smith Fullerton.
"I received a very moving letter from a man who, as a college student, had been involved in a financial crime," Daniszewski says in the article. When an old news account of the incident surfaced, this man lost friends and his upcoming marriage was also jeopardised.
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