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: Lawbeat

Stiff-arming an "unGoogle" demand

By Mark Obbie

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I hope there's a press-freedom award in the works for the student editors, past and present, at Seattle Pacific University's student paper -- and a special place in hell for the folks who run their school. As Isaac Amsdorf reports today in the Seattle Times, the students have resisted heavy-handed pressure from their school over a long period of time in a dispute with a former student who's unhappy that an embarrassing 10-year-old story about him remains accessible on the Web. Shakespear Feyissa initially sought the attention, when he accused SPU of wrongfully suspending him based on accusations of attempted sexual assault. The case never turned criminal, and the school beat Feyissa's race-discrimination claims. Now Feyissa's a lawyer and a single guy, and he says every time he's Googled, professional acquaintances or women he wants to date learn of the old accusations. The school agreed to remove the story from the paper's Web server, arguing that it serves no purpose any more. Amsdorf quotes the former editor on why he said no:

"We explained to them, if they wanted to start down a path of removing historical archives and pulling it from the public sphere, what they're doing is censorship," said Chris Durr, the editor at the time. "We basically said, sorry, we have principles in journalism that don't allow us to put stuff in the memory hole and pretend it never happened."After all, the students said, it's factual and a matter of record.

He gets it. Too bad his school administrators don't. It's a road that no journalists should want to go down, especially concerning reports on crime and litigation. Now, at least, a Google search for Feyissa's name will turn up this story (and probably a fair number of blog posts and follow-ups) where he explains his side of things. (Via Romenesko)

Full post as published by Lawbeat on August 15, 2008 (boomark / email).