Good ole Willie Sutton
Whenever someone robs a bank, are you interested in knowing how much they took? Do you notice that the newspaper doesn't usually tell you that information? (The police department usually doesn't release it.)
Earlier this week, we published the amount stolen in a series of bank robberies. (The information was on the arrest warrant.) As a result, I've had conversations with a banker who has politely objected. The banking industry's position is that we should never publish the amount of money taken in a heist. It gives would-be robbers too much information, which could be enough to tip them from "would be" to "actual." In addition, that so-called encouragement would mean more robberies and more banking personnel put in danger.
Now, I think people know that a great deal of money is stored in banks, and that people rob banks because that's where the money is. While we have no desire to harm the innocent, it's hard for me to buy that by publishing the amount of money taken in a robbery, it encourages other robberies.
But I could be wrong. I checked with a couple other newspaper editors in the state. Both said they would publish the info if they had it.
Then the banker said that the reader doesn't care about the amount of money taken anyway. They just care the bank was robbed.
So, is the amount important to you?
Comments (2)
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I've always been amazed by the repository of useful criminal knowledge that some people believe the newspaper to be. I'm surprised we don't send more subscriptions to the jailhouse.
I would tell your banker friend, politely, that the idea that reporting the amount of money stolen from a bank heist would prompt more bank robberies seems to be a bit of a stretch. However, if he has some actual scientific data or research to back up the assertion, I'd love to see it.
The other thing I'd say is this: if the information is in a public document, and it relates to incident that we're reporting, it should go into the paper. Certainly if the perpetrators are ever caught, tried and convicted, the amount they stole will be relevant to their sentence. Why would it not be relevant to readers?
Posted on January 31, 2008 6:27 PM
Heck, yes, I want to know! It's much more interesting to me if they get away with $25,000 than if they get away with $1,000.
Posted on February 1, 2008 12:30 AM