Naming names: How CBC decides to identify the people we cover

The sad and tragic case of Hannah Leflar has caught the collective attention of the news media, and our audiences, this week.

A young Regina girlis alleged to have beenmurdered by teenageboys. There have been vigils, walks, anddemonstrations of support in court and online.

• Crown wants adult sentences for 2 boys accused of killing Hannah Leflar

CBC Saskatchewan was among the first to choose to name Hannahon Monday night, but not without careful consideration. That decision has prompted questions and in somecases, demands, that the names of the accused also be reported in the media.

Here's why CBC is unable to do that:

In this case, it is black and white. We know who the accusedare -- just as anyone who went to courtalso knows. However, itis against the law to name anyonewho is charged under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. Charges under the YCJA come with an automatic publication ban.

In Hannah's case, that publication ban included hername too, since it is illegal to name the youth victim of a youth crime.

There are exceptions though, andon Monday, Hannah's family gave us permission to use her name and identify her.

Some people have criticized us for naming Hannah and not her accused killers. It is important to tell Hannah's story though, because she was a real person in our community and who she was -- deserves to be known. All murder victims deserve that, and that is why we identify them.

Some publication bans fought in court

Publication bans are a fact of life for news media. In some cases, we fight them.

Another sad story playing out this weekis the trial of Adam Cyr, 34.

He's accused of killing 2-year-old Natalia Shingoose, but when that trial started, we couldn't tell you that. Natalia's name was also under a publication ban, ordered by a judge.

• Adam Cyr testifies: 'I did not kill' toddler Natalia Shingoose

CBC hired a lawyer, along with two other media outlets,and argued against that banand won. If nobody had, you wouldn't be able to know anything about the case that could have identified Natalia.

Other situations have nothing to do with legality. Often, CBC Saskatchewanwill report stories of people who have been charged with a crime and we will choose to not name that person.

We make that call based on our own standard of fairness. We strongly believe that when we identify someoneaccused of a crime, we owe it to you, and them,to report the outcome.So, we weigh each of these stories carefully against our own resources and the public interest.

For example, we chose to identify Michael Chachula, the RCMP officer charged with trafficking drugs,because that story is clearly in the public interestand we will dedicate the time to tell you everything we can about that story, from start to finish.

• Const. Michael Chachula in Swift Current charged with drug trafficking

But we have also been selective in naming the men charged in the raids on bike gangs in Saskatoon.

Reporting names of accused people

Publishingall 14 names would mean, by our own standard,an obligation to reporton 14 separate outcomes. You cansee how the entirety of your public broadcaster could be consumed by cases like this.

Simply put,we believe it is irresponsible to name every person charged with a crime if we can't reasonably expect to tell you if they allare guilty or innocent in the end.

Sometimes, it appears we are flip-flopping on our own decisions. In the case of the teens who were lost and rescued on Reindeer Lake, CBC reported their names and even interviewed some of them. Later on, when some were charged in relation to what happened, thepublication ban on identifying minors kicked in.

• Rescued northern Sask. teens charged with lodge break-in

So now, we cannot identify those teens in any way, although it is clear we know who they are.

These are just some of the reasons CBC Saskatchewanwill name, or not name, people in our stories. It is an evolving process, though, as the journalistic landscape changes.

Telling the most responsible story we can

Social media has made it easierto talk about,and talk with, people directly connected to the stories we cover. We see the same details, rumours and names online as you do. Whatever your position on naming names in our stories, rest assured we will always take our time to tell the most responsible story we can.

As a rule, we don't want to tell stories about "16-year-old females" and "2-year-old females".We want to tell stories about Hannahand Natalia because they deserve it and so do you.

Chris Lane is CBC Saskatchewan'ssenior producer of news responsible fordigital, social, radio & TV.

Twitter: @ChrisLaneCBC