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His dad — the one he’s accused of killing — was named Vincent Romero. His mother’s name has been reported nationwide as Eryn Thomas or Eryn Bloomfield.
The Arizona Republic won’t name either of the boy’s parents to avoid identifying the 8-year-old murder suspect from St. Johns. Though it’s nice to see anyone in this world stick to a code of ethics, the exercise is getting rather silly by now.
Yesterday, the boy’s mother gave an interview to ABC’s Good Morning, America. Today, entering her name in Google News returns nearly 300 articles. (ABC never named the kid himself).
Yet the Republic’s article about the interview on Tuesday contained the following phrase:
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The Arizona Republic is not publishing the name of the boy or the parents to avoid identifying a juvenile.
At this point, the Republic’s readers who care about the story likely know the names of the boy’s parents.
And anyhow, it’s a safe bet those readers don’t think as highly of the newspaper’s ethical standards as its editors obviously do. — Ray Stern
