New York Times Public Editor Margaret Sullivan joined the chorus of critics who said it was out of line for the newspaper to publish the street address of former police officer Darren Wilson, who a Ferguson, Mo., grand jury recently chose not to indict in the shooting death of 18-year-old Michael Brown.
“As for the publication of the street name, I agree with Erik Wemple of The Washington Post, who wrote last week that it was unnecessary,” Sullivan wrote in a blog post Monday.
The Times had previously reported Wilson’s recent marriage to a woman with whom he worked on the Ferguson police force. In doing so, the paper also published the street on which Wilson lived, though the article noted he had not been seen staying there since the Aug. 9 shooting of Brown.
The marriage article also included a photograph of Wilson’s marriage license, though it was later removed.
Though Wilson’s street address had been printed in other publications before, some people, mostly conservatives, were offended at the detail being included in the Times report.
Times Executive Editor Dean Baquet defended the paper’s coverage to Sullivan, saying it has been “fair, aggressive and excellent, as well as conscious of the views of both sides.”
