Naming suspects

Provide students with the examples below in which news media named suspects in high-profile crimes. Discuss how these stories impacted the people’s lives and ask students to consider how naming suspects in lower-profile stories could impact those individuals’ lives in similar and different ways. Facilitate a conversation about how these stories could be reported differently.

• Garfield, B. (Host). (2019, June 7). Reckoning With the Media's Role in the Central Park Five Conviction. In On the Media. WNYC Studios. 

• Lee, T. G. (2015, June 22). The Real Story of Sunil Tripathi, the Boston Bomber Who Wasn't. NBC News.

• McGowan, M. (2021, November 16). Man wrongly identified as Cleo Smith accused sues Network Seven for defamation. The Guardian.

• CNN. (1997, January 28). Jewell sues newspapers, former employer for libel - Jan. 28, 1997. CNN.

• Davis, R. (2023, February 10). Can a Police Officer Accused of Spying for China Ever Clear His Name? The New York Times.