The Mustang Daily has taken a lot of criticism in the past for publishing the mug shot photos of students who get arrested. There have been a number of examples this year alone, most when we ran the shots of the four Sigma Alpha Epsilon members showing off their pearly whites after being booked in the SLO County Jail. While this particular case is such a big one that doing anything but revealing to the full extent the suspects’ identities to other Cal Poly students and faculty would belittle our credibility, there are some cases where a mug shot can at first seem a little cruel.
I admit, my first gut reaction to seeing a student’s face plastered on the front page for things like drug possession makes me think of how bad I would feel if it were my face. These are, after all, photos of people at their worst and a photo makes it easier for the story to follow a student around for life. I have actually raised these concerns once in the newsroom and clearly some other students feel the same way.
Aside from the SAE fellows from the story we ran, there were the booking photos of Vigneshwaran Ramar and Wilson Lau, the Poly students charged with possession of ecstasy for sale that we ran back in April. Some may also remember John Goetz, the nutrition major arrested for felony assault after allegedly knocking out two guys downtown also in April. We ran the mug shots on the front page.
As I think about it deeper, I find it hard to legitimize not running the photos. Major papers do it all the time and the Tribune will run booking photos of anybody over 18 arrested for a crime, if it’s relevant. The Mustang Daily is a publication that seeks to inform Cal Poly students and faculty about issues that may pertain to them. If we are going to reveal their names, which I think we can all agree is newsworthy, why would we not clarify with a photo. Just saying ‘John Smith’ with a year and major is often not enough.
Furthermore, why should we, the media, protect their identities? These are suspected criminals and if we are presented with these photos, what reason do we have not to run the shots other than ‘How would it make me feel?’-style guilt? A long chat with a good friend on this subject recently sold me on this. His argument basically boiled down to ‘Don’t do the crime if you don’t want your shit aired out to everyone.’ God help me, I could not counter this other than point out that they have not yet been convicted. Last I checked, my friend said, conviction is not a prerequisite for revealing a suspect’s identity. And you know what? He’s absolutely right.
So everyone keep in mind that by partaking in illegal acts all of your mugs may very well be plastered on the front page of the Daily the next day. I will do the same.
Couldn’t agree more, I was surprised to see backlash to it.
You confuse protecting their identities with exploiting students. As I’ve commented in a previous drug article, what made me feel sick when I read it was that one of the guys, who was accused of having prescription medication not prescribed to him, was pretty much put to the same level as his housemate who had all those ecstasy pills, and the SAE members. Now, we don’t even know what kind of prescription it was — it could have been his sister’s acne medication, or his dad’s pills for gout. But he was arrested for it, and his mug shot was right next to the ecstasy pill guy.
His crime was definitely not on the same level as other news-worthy suspects, but putting his mug up there is a manipulative tactic to get more readers interested, which is very unprofessional.
Also what irked me was the apparent unfair treatment of suspected criminals. For example, when another article ran, http://mustangdaily.net/dorm-resident-arrested-on-campus-on-suspicion-of-possession-and-intent-to-sell , I wondered why the Mustang Daily didn’t publish his mugshot as it had for the prior drug article. Was it reporting bias, did a person at the Mustang Daily know James Fitzpatrick, which explains why they didn’t want to embarrass him with a photo op? Help me get my facts straight and let me know why James’s mug wasn’t chosen.
In regards to your concerns:
We get booking photos from the police department. In the case of James Fitzpatrick, no booking photo was released along with that particular police report. Had one been available, we likely would have published it just as we published these. I assure you nobody on the editorial staff is acquainted with Fitzpatrick.
– Marlize van Romburgh, Mustang Daily editor in chief
Thanks, I appreciate the clarification.
Unfortunately, student newspapers are just not the reliable source of news that is expected by the public or students. This is unfortunate. These papers should be a news source that is just that, NEWS.
we all feel really bad for carson. but ive read the discovery, maybe carson liked to drink too much and party too much. ergo there wouldnt have been a bong and booze in his dorm room or maybe he wouldnt have been drinking in santa barbara or maybe he wouldnt have been known as a fellow who could hold his booze and which enjoyed drinking it. maybe his death was a tragic accident, caused by himself. do we really think ruinning the lives of all these other children will make carson’s death worth more then his life? is this a tragic accident or just a party that went wrong? is this something that cal poly is trying to cover their butt’s with or is this something that fraternities have been perpetuating for thirty years? whose guilty here? the children, cal poly, or these stupid fraternities? and why does cal poly allow this to go on? if you want to place blame, blame cal poly for letting these fraternities to exist on their campus. my child and many other children will suffer archaic nonsense. by adrian Millers own admission she is suffering under alot of political pressure. no doubt this comes from carson’s family and some foolish state senator from texas. i could but have not used just as much political pressure from reagents and ex-reagents, not to mention congress men and senators from california, i do not feel i should use my social standing or wealth to protect these children who are obviously innocent, something that csrsons family doesnt seem to understand. i hope this comes to an honest non-political ending.
“His crime was definitely not on the same level as other news-worthy suspects, but putting his mug up there is a manipulative tactic to get more readers interested, which is very unprofessional.”
this is not a manipulative move… if someone fucks up and gets a mugshot taken, it’s going to be in the news. it’s not like there’s that much exciting stuff going on. so when a story breaks, and there’s a picture to go with it, you bet your ass it’s going to be on the front page. think
yeah and while you’re at it, post the ugly mug of a Cal Poly employee who is married and cheating on their husband with another married man! “Getting it at the library” takes on an entirely new meaning with this woman!
Yeah and while you’re at it, delete the ridiculous comments from this person who obviously needs to move on with their life and stop trolling a newspaper website.