During the 2003 playoffs, a fan by the name of Steve Bartman tried to grab a foul ball that prevented a Cubs outfielder from catching it. This allowed the inning to continue and the Marlins ended up coming back to beat the Cubs 8-3. Many people were upset and displeased with the actions of Bartman as he had to be escorted out of the game by security guards to prevent harm from being done to him. The media in articles decided to release his name, which I don’t think was a good idea at all.
Although, at the time no one knew the exact identity of the fan was, the Chicago Sun-Times decided to release his name, his place of work, and the suburb he lived in. The man who wrote the article, Frank Main, believed there was no issue in naming him because he was the center of a national news story. Bartman received many death threats and was a target for Cubs fans.
The newspaper did not really think he would be assassinated by fans. Even though, this did not happen there is always a possibility because fans are very unpredictable. James Burke, a member of the ethics adviceline for journalists, said that identifying Bartman was an act of “irresponsible journalism”. He said it violated a code of ethics that puts journalist at harm.
I am fully onboard with this as. At the time of the event, many fans were upset and displeased with Bartman. You never really know if some fans will take the extra step because crazy things do happen from time to time. I personally feel, releasing his name and address put a target on his back for fans.
Fans knew where he lived and worked at so they could make his life as miserable as possible. There was no need for the news paper to released this information to the public, at least without the permission of the fan and I don’t think Bartman would have given them that permission anyways.
The news paper could have just mentioned “a fan” got in the way of a foul ball instead of saying his name. What does releasing his name do? I think it only puts a target on Bartmans back and that is never something you want to do as a journalist.