In its news coverage, The Wenatchee World will endeavor to tell the community what it needs to know about traumatic situations while taking into consideration the potential for undue harm to victims of those situations by identifying them. Discussion with editors of all unusual circumstances is encouraged, but in general, the guidelines will be these:

TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS:

Drivers, passengers and pedestrians involved in traffic accidents will be identified by name, age and home town whenever an accident is the basis for a news item. In general, accidents will not be mentioned unless one of the parties requires overnight treatment at a hospital for injuries or unless the accident causes some newsworthy situation (high-speed chase, traffic jam, unusual photo, etc.) Traffic accidents occur most times on public roads, and drivers should have no expectations of having their names withheld in news stories. Photographs taken at accident scenes, however, will try to avoid showing bodies or unusually gruesome injuries unless there is some compelling reason justified by the news angle. Names of deceased will be withheld from publication until the respective authorities are certain relatives will have been notified by the time the paper is published.

BURGLARIES:

In routine News of Record items, the location of the break-in will be noted by street address or general rural area in order to alert neighbors to the problem, but the name of the owner of the stolen items will not be used, except for stolen automobiles. If the newsworthiness of a burglary or theft justifies a news brief or longer story, the name of the victim may prove, however, to be part of the newsworthiness of that story.

ROBBERIES:

In General, these items will be more newsworthy and therefore the subject of longer news briefs or stories. The name and age of the victim is likely to be more important, and direct comments from the victim (such as in a store robbery) may be highly interesting to readers. However, consideration should be given to withholding the victimÕs name if the perpetrator of the crime is still at large or if the victim is in a vulnerable situation following the crime. Victims who talk freely when contracted by reporters need not have their identity withheld, but consideration should be given to victims who specifically request it or who are reluctant to make public comment. In the case of serious injuries requiring hospitalization of a victim (therefore preventing any direct communication of the victimÕs wishes regarding identification), the identity will generally be revealed unless some other overwhelming consideration of victim safety presents itself. Many times the community (friends, neighbors, relatives) will want to know the identity in order to aid the victim.

ASSAULTS:

In routine jail blotter arrests, the name of the assault victim will not be used. However, reference can be made to the relationship of the victim to the perpetrator, such as wife, husband, son, brother, etc., to more clearly explain the situation to the reader. In cases requiring news briefs or longer stories, victims of a sexual assault will not be named unless there is some overwhelming news justification (exceptional public prominence of a victim, for example, or voluntary disclosure by the victim). Victims of non-sexual assaults will generally be identified if they require overnight hospitalization and treatment, unless there is a specific request by the victim to police not to be identified. Names of murder victims will be withheld until authorities are reasonably certain relatives will have been notified by the time of publication. Speculation on the identity of a victim based on address listings in phone books or other directories is not permitted in any news story.

SUICIDES:

We no longer name suicide victims in News of Record items. Suicides of a highly public nature (jumping off the Odabashian Bridge, for example) of involving people of prominence may justify a story, which may or may not identify the victim.

COURT DISPOSITIONS:

District Court Ñ the names of victims in assault dispositions will not be used in routine listings in the news of Record.

Superior Court and Juvenile Court Ñ The names of victims will not be used in routine listings of sentencings in the News of Record. However a news item requiring a brief or longer story will generally be of sufficient interest to repeat the name of the victim if it has been used before in stories about the initial arrest. Minimize mention unless newsworthiness requires it.

FIRES:

The name of the occupant of a building where a fire occurs will generally be part of the basic news about that event. But care should be exercised by reporters and photographers at the scene of a major fire in approaching victims who have suffered greatly from the incident.