TULSA, Okla. — News coverage lives longer on digital than ever before, and some situations raise questions about how long that content should live.
Most news organizations receive regular emails or calls from people who have been arrested, asking them to remove articles about these arrests. This brings up larger questions for news organizations within the journalistic function.
- We are the writers of history, sharing the story of what happens in our community. These arrests did happen, and removing a record of them seems contrary to that goal.
- We also do not want to cause undue or unwarranted harm to people. We strive for fairness.
We generally do not remove articles, photos, or pieces of articles. However, there are rare instances where we decide to remove content.
Here is how we handle these requests:
- Requests can be made by filling out the form below.
- We will only remove these materials if the court system has resolved the case and all punishments or jail/prison time have been served.
- People requesting removal must provide documentation that shows the status of the case.
Once those requests are submitted station management will determine if the content will be removed or not. Some criteria used:
- Is the person requesting identifiable?
- Is our reporting accurate? If not, we will correct or remove the content.
- What is the case status (are charges dropped, expunged)? The requesting party must provide documentation.
- How long ago did this happen?
- How serious was the crime?
- Is the person requesting the victim or suspect?
Most of the time, the content may not be removed. In some cases, a story could be amended to note charges were dropped or what verdict was reached in court. In other cases, we may do a follow-up story and provide a link from the original story to the follow-up story.
