The accused shooter -- he who shall not be named

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As a columnist, I have the freedom to do what reporters investigating the Tucson shootings cannot and should not do. It is the job of reporters to gather and convey facts, but as a columnist I've chosen not to name the person accused with killing Christina Green, 9; John Roll, 63; Gabe Zimmerman, 30; Dorothy Morris, 76; Dorwin Stoddard, 76; and Phyllis Schneck, 79; and shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-Ariz., and 13 others. Why give him the attention he so clearly craves?

Reader Ed Bouwhuis of Sunnyvale wrote in response to my columns on the murders and controversies surrounding them:

The Green family mourns

RICK WILKING, AFP/Getty Images

The Green family mourns

I want to applaud your approach of not mentioning the name of the [expletive] accused of the shootings in Tucson. I have thought for a long time that some or much of the motivation for these animals is to be famous. I think it occurred to me at least as long ago as the Columbine massacre. Knowing the name of the gunman adds nothing to my understanding of the event. If there was some kind of protocol among the various media to not identify them by name when reporting on their actions, at least some of the appeal of committing these outrages might fade.

They could be labeled 'shooter 1' and 'shooter 2' (or 'idiot', etc). But they could live out their obscure lives in prison without the majority of us knowing they'd ever existed.

Obviously, this could not be enacted by law. There are probably too many people claiming 'right to know' (where did that 'right' come from, anyway?) to make it work. But it could be a general protocol, voluntarily followed by news organizations, similar to those who decline to identify minors who are victims or accused of a crime.

He closed, "Maybe you could propose it to any professional organizations, or editorial boards, you support?"

As a matter of fact, I try to include the names of the victims whenever writing about a crime. With this case, I decided not to name an attention-seeking person. Do others in the media care to follow?

Ed, consider your idea to be out there as an item for debate.

Posted By: Debra J. Saunders (Email, Twitter) | January 14 2011 at 12:49 PM

Listed Under: How would you answer this?