Article in Poynter by Kelly McBride, 4/30/25

Headline:  “People who fear the Trump administration are asking editors to remove their names from old news stories.”

Subhead:  “Here are some questions to ask while managing these requests”

“Government workers, teachers and green card holders across the country are asking editors to remove their names — and the record of their support for causes now targeted by the Trump administration — from old stories.

“Journalists from around the country routinely ask me for ethics help. In the last month, I’ve heard from the editor of a gay newspaper, several alternative publications, a newsroom that covers immigrant issues, student newspapers and several mainstream commercial newsrooms.

“Kevin Naff, the editor of the Washington Blade, the nation’s oldest gay newspaper, reached out to me for advice in March. Government employees were asking that their names be scrubbed from his archives. They feared that an open record of their sexual orientation, or their views on issues that run contrary to President Donald Trump’s, could make them targets for job cuts. . .”

https://www.poynter.org/ethics-trust/2025/how-handle-source-removal-requests-journalism/