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Guidance: On Names, The 'Manifesto' And Other New Zealand Mass Shooting Details

Thank you, everyone, for your work on covering the mass shooting in New Zealand.

As we continue to cover the news:

-NAMES I. When it's known for sure, the name of the shooter does NOT have to be endlessly repeated. Biographical details are important, but repeating the name over and over runs the risk of glorifying the shooter in some eyes. As we've said before, in many cases the news can be told without even saying the name (or names if others were involved).

-NAMES II: We will rely on authorities to release the names of those who were killed and injured. If family members, friends or others start talking about people they knew who were killed or injured, whether to report those names must be approved by a senior editor.


-VIDEO: We do not plan to post the video the shooter reportedly made. Use of any audio from it must be approved by a DME.


-MANIFESTO. We will be sparing on reporting about what's being referred to as the gunman's "manifesto" and do not plan to publish it in its entirety if it becomes available. There is considerable research indicating that such statements inspire others. The DME on duty must OK how we handle news from it.


-SOCIAL MEDIA I. Do not retweet or otherwise point to other media outlet's posting of the video or manifesto if they do that.


-SOCIAL MEDIA II. Let our engagement teams post first about our coverage and it's certainly fine to then point to what they are sharing.


-SOCIAL MEDIA III: Be careful of other news outlets' coverage. If you wouldn't point to it on the air or in a Web story, don't share it on social media.


-PHOTOS/IMAGES: Nicole Werbeck and her team make the calls on what we can and cannot use. Consult Nicole.


-DEVELOPING. Please continue to remind listeners/readers that this is a developing story and things such as number of casualties are likely to change.

-WEAPONS. Reread our guidance on references to weapons. If officials describe them, attribute the descriptions to them. Remember, it's almost always wrong to simply say they were "assault weapons."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Mark Memmott is NPR's supervising senior editor for Standards & Practices. In that role, he's a resource for NPR's journalists – helping them raise the right questions as they do their work and uphold the organization's standards.