Unethical journalism in the Vancouver Sun

Today’s Vancouver Sun carries a story about a little girl who unknowingly ingested water mixed with GHB, a street drug. The girl’s father left the water bottle on the counter overnight.

Police have recommended a charge of criminal negligence, but prosecutors have not formally charged the man. Vancouver Police have not identified him, in order to protect the girl and her brother.

Yet The Vancouver Sun has provided sufficient details that anyone with a grasp of Google can identify the man. The paper describes his house colour, size, lot, items in the front yard, and the general neighbourhood. The Sun article provides details about the man’s car, including windshield stickers, and an item in the backseat. Moreover, the report notes that the man has a website resume — then proceeds to describe details of his work history, career timeline, hobbies, and other experiences.

With details from the newspaper story, I was able to use Google to pull up an extremely relevant web resume within five to 10 seconds. I won’t identify the man or his website address, because it would be unethical to do so.

In comparison, by providing such detailed information about the man, The Vancouver Sun has guaranteed embarassment for him and for his family. The paper could be excused if its news coverage offered benefits to the public or to the man’s children. But The Sun did not justify its reasons for exposing the man. Both the police and Ministry of Children and Family Services are already involved, and the story does not suggest that the man is a risk to the general public. The man has not been charged and police say that identifying him would result in a loss of protection for his children. As a result, the Sun’s coverage is gratuitous, immature and unethical.

Update:

I’m suspicious that The Sun intentionally set up the GHB man so that he could be found via Google. I tried searching for keywords from my own resume and from those of other people in Vancouver, and I wasn’t able to pull up the right resumes. I suspect The Sun’s staff spent some time experimenting with keywords that would be sure to push the resume (complete with street address, email and phone number) to the top of eeds to describe details of his work history, career timeline, hobbies, and other experiences.

With details from the newspaper story, I was able to use Google to pull up an extremely relevant web resume within five to 10 seconds. I won’t identify the man or his website address, because it would be unethical to do so.

In comparison, by providing such detailed information about the man, The Vancouver Sun has guaranteed embarassment for him and for his family. The paper could be excused if its news coverage offered benefits to the public or to the man’s children. But The Sun did not justify its reasons for exposing the man. Both the police and Ministry of Children and Family Services are already involved, and the story does not suggest that the man is a risk to the general public. The man has not been charged and police say that identifying him would result in a loss of protection for his children. As a result, the Sun’s coverage is gratuitous, immature and unethical.

Update:

I’m suspicious that The Sun intentionally set up the GHB man so that he could be found via Google. I tried searching for keywords from my own resume and from those of other people in Vancouver, and I wasn’t able to pull up the right resumes. I suspect The Sun’s staff spent some time experimenting with keywords that would be sure to push the resume (complete with street address, email and phone number) to the top of the Google heap.

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