The story was hard to find, tucked away in a corner inside the Sports section. But it was enough to rile some readers about The N&O's treatment of high school athletes.

"An Apex High School volleyball player has been kicked off the team for falsifying her address," said the first paragraph of the story in Tuesday's paper.

The story identified the player and said she was suspended from the team for giving the school a false home address. That address allowed her to attend Apex rather than Holly Springs High School, where she would be assigned under her real address.

Reader Karl Kaste of Clayton was irate. "You and your newspaper owe the ... family a written (published) apology, for not leaving a private matter with just a child private," Kaste, who said he didn't know the girl, wrote in an e-mail. "You need to review your Journalism 101 textbook, and as a newspaper you all need to end your practice of sensationalized 'hate stories' toward local student athletes."

He went on to say that he understood good newspapers do not name minors in stories, to protect their identities and anonymity.

Kaste raises a good issue. What should a newspaper's policy be as to naming young people in stories, especially when in a negative light? (I won't name this particular young person, so as to avoid compounding any injury.)

First, know that newspapers don't set out to embarrass private people, young or otherwise, who find themselves in the news spotlight. One principle of news coverage is to minimize harm, especially to the young. "Journalism normally lets the moral value of truth telling take prominence over everything else," says Indiana University journalism professor David Boeyink in the book, "Best Practices for Newspaper Journalists." "But with kids, the overriding value should be 'do no harm.' "

Tim Stevens, The N&O's respected prep sports writer, has told me he writes his stories so as to avoid negative attention to individuals. Instead of a player dropping a pass, the throw is incomplete. Unlike the pros or even college athletes, prep players are in it for the fun, not the money.

The N&O does not have a policy on identifying minors. It generally complies with juvenile court requests not to identify offenders, and it avoids naming youthful accusers in sex assault cases (as it does with adults). Beyond that, says N&O Deputy Managing Editor Linda Williams, it's a matter of judgment: "Will it unnecessarily embarrass the child, and is the name essential to the story?"

In the case of the Apex student, she said, the name was relevant in the context of the news value of the story. Disciplinary action had been taken against the student in a circumstance that had consequences beyond her own suspension. "She was ineligible, and it had the potential of making some of the team's actions not be in compliance with high school association rules for athletics," said Williams, who oversees sports coverage.

Lois Boynton, journalism ethics professor at UNC-CH, said there were two decisions to be made here: Whether to publish a story at all and whether to publish the student's name. Yes, on the first count, because of the news value of the story. Not only could the student's action affect the team, it speaks also to the broader issue of families falsifying addresses either to avoid year-round school assignments or to get into a preferred school. School assignment is a particularly hot topic in the Apex-Holly Springs area.

Next issue: Does the paper name the student? Boynton says that's a closer question, but she comes down on the side of complete disclosure. "I don't put [naming her] high on the offense scale," she said. "I think what you guys did is OK, because it's a significant issue in the local community."

I agree that naming her is a closer call, but there are more reasons for than against. Her name surely is known already to the people who care most about the story -- students and families involved with Apex High. They'd wonder why the paper didn't name her. And then there's the significance to her team. What if the quarterback of the undefeated Garner High School football team were suspended for address falsification? Should he not be named?

I did have a couple of qualms about this story. One is the phrasing of the lead paragraph -- "kicked off the team for falsifying her address." That's a little harsh to me. Second, I'm uncomfortable that the information came to The N&O in an unsigned letter. Is the paper being used by someone from a rival school?

Still. The suspension is news, it affects a lot of people, and it reflects a broader concern. The N&O got it right on this one.

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