In addition to helping student journalists through our always-free legal hotline and Virtual Speakers Bureau, the Student Press Law Center has been proactively answering your top questions about covering the coronavirus pandemic. Here are some you may find helpful:

Q: A source who has tested positive for COVID-19 has consented to be interviewed. Can I identify this person by name?

A: Legally, journalists have the right to use the name of sources (including minors) in newsworthy stories as long as the information is lawfully obtained and truthfully reported. In invasion of privacy and defamation cases where information to be published is private or damaging to the person in question, courts have ruled that a minor can provide valid consent if the minor is sufficiently mature and capable of realizing the possible repercussions of the consent.

But there might be ethical reasons for not publishing names. Journalists also have an obligation to minimize harm. One concern with this type of story is a lifetime of stigmatization. Even if your source unambiguously consents to be interviewed, make sure that they truly understand the future implications of having their name connected with COVID-19. SPLC encourages you to obtain the minor’s consent in writing, and it would be even better if you can obtain the consent of a parent or guardian too. You may find our sample consent form helpful.

If your newspaper staff decides to promise a source anonymity, make sure that you and the source are on the same page about what exactly going off the record means. Remember that even without dropping a name, certain descriptors of a person can still make them identifiable.

Other COVID-19 FAQs:

• How can I access information about my school’s plans to cope with COVID-19?
• What if school officials cite FERPA or HIPAA in their refusal to provide information for my reporting on COVID-19?
• Can my access to meetings be limited due to COVID-19?