Naming: When to Withhold and When to Disclose
Launch library · evergreen read
Naming a person in a true story carries real consequences, and the decision to name or withhold a name should follow a deliberate standard rather than simple convenience or habit, weighing the public value of the name against the harm its disclosure might genuinely cause someone.
Public figures acting in a public capacity generally carry a weaker claim to anonymity than private individuals caught up in events beyond their control, though this is a sliding scale rather than a fixed rule that applies identically in every single situation a writer encounters.
Whatever standard a writer applies, consistency matters enormously, since naming some people while shielding others in similar circumstances, without a clear and defensible reason, quietly signals favouritism rather than principle to any attentive reader who takes the time to notice the pattern. Writing the standard down explicitly, rather than trusting it to memory, gives a writer something concrete to point to when a naming decision is later questioned by an editor or a subject.