opinion

Gabordi: Why we're not naming Ashley Madison names

The conversations and the emails get a little testy around this topic, the language a little rough.

But it is an issue that I have strong feelings about: At what point do the private lives of public people warrant news coverage?

For me, the answer is very simple, but hard to explain. Before dipping into those waters, the public good must be very clear and strong. Otherwise, we stay out of their private lives.

Another way of saying that is the private lives of public officials are fair game for the media at the point in which those private lives intersect or conflict with public policy or positions. I don’t feel any obligation to deviate from that just because some readers demand we tell all. I’m not swayed by what other news outlets do.

The issue popped up again this week. Some outlets are pulsating with “news” about the names of people found in the hacked online dating site Ashley Madison with the clever, albeit scandalous marketing slogan, “Life is short. Have an affair.”

The website has a reputation for catering to people who are married and want to step out.

It titillates us to know who “got caught.”

It appeals to our seedy inner selves.

After all, we all have a voyeuristic side and inquiring minds want to know.

But that is simply not enough for us. Harshly worded emails I’ve gotten tell me that won’t make me popular with some people, but I’m OK with that. I’ve been doing this for a long time and have been criticized before.

Another state newspaper is reporting on a Brevard County public official whose name was found in the data dump. The name is also out in the blogosphere. It caused a discussion in our news meeting about how we should handle it.

My decision was that it is not newsworthy of FLORIDA TODAY. One emailer told me I had no right to make that decision. I beg to differ — that is the job of the executive editor.

Let’s examine some facts:

The official was single at the time, though that was not the deciding factor. The official did not do anything illegal. The official’s action was not in conflict with public positions or votes taken.

Absent any of that, an adult looking for a relationship, physical or otherwise, with another adult does not on its own strike me as news. It happens every night and day in Brevard County and I would suggest that it has happened every night and day for as long as mankind has existed.

No laws were broken. No one was forcing attentions on anyone else. Only adults were involved.

I disagree that all details of the private lives of public officials are automatically newsworthy. We don’t have to report those details – shouldn’t and won’t – just because we can. Whether we “like” or agree with the public positions of the people involved shouldn’t be a factor.

Websites like this one are the electronic 2015 version of the bar scene, and probably less problematic for a single elected official. Joining one is not – in my opinion – newsworthy, regardless of what job the person holds down.

And that is the answer to the question sent in from another emailer:

“I am a resident of Brevard County. I depend on FLORIDA TODAY to deliver me and my family the local news. Why am I not finding out about this dirt bag … from FLORIDA TODAY and his activity with Ashley Madison dating website?”

Other news sites have their own values and they need to do what they think is right. But our values say that there must be a better reason than simply embarrassing a public official for reporting on their private lives, especially in this circumstance.

People signed up for the website under the presumption of privacy. The website was illegally hacked and its private data released. I don’t particularly trust fully the information that has come out. But more to the point, how we get information and the motivation of the source providing it to us matters.

Using information that was obtained by someone committing a crime doesn’t feel particularly ethical.

Going to the public official and forcing him or her to respond to questions based on information from a hacker feels more like the standards of the National Enquirer than what you want from your family’s news source. We don’t – and won’t – play “gotcha” with people’s lives, public or private.

It is not the first time I’ve chosen to not report on the private lives of public people. A few years back, while I was executive editor of the Tallahassee Democrat, the adult child of a legislator privately killed himself. We followed our policy on private suicides and did not report on it.

Another news site – an out-of-town news site – not only published a full story, it also felt the need to report the deceased had visited a well-known gay bar that evening.

I’m not being critical of anyone or any other organization; we all have our own ethical standards. But we thought you should know our values, where we stand on this issue and why we’re not naming names hacked from the Ashley Madison website.

Bob Gabordi is executive editor at Florida Today. His direct dial number is 321-242-3607 and cell phone is 850-591-2229. He is @bgabordi on Twitter and /bgabordi on Facebook. You can also find him on LinkedIn. His email address is bgabordi@floridatoday.com .