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July 04, 2005
Yellow Journalism
As New Nebraska notes the Omaha World-Herald, after threatening for months, went ahead and published the name of the plaintiff in the local 10 Commandments case, John Doe v. City of Plattsmouth.
Way back in September the WH beat the ACLU in court over the ACLU's request for an injunction prohibiting the WH from publishing the plaintiff's identity. There was much noise made at the time about the ACLU attempting to impose prior restraints on the press. The difference here, a difference many ACLU critics didn't get, is the ACLU was advocating for their client. If the client wanted to try and stop the WH from publishing his name out of fear of reprisal, it wasn't up the ACLU to say no. In signing on to represent him, the ACLU had to do that zealously, as they put it.
It would be one thing if the WH just published his name in a story about the 10 Commandments cases, but here they went beyond responsible journalism to malice. The WH published photos of him and his license plate, described his vehicle, listed his employer and described his house and the location of his house in Plattsmouth.
Very professional work, World-Herald. Way to serve the public interest.
** Bugmenot's database of World-Herald logins is shot but the stories can be found through the link above.
Posted by Half-Cocked at July 4, 2005 07:02 PM