AP violates family's wishes for no good reason.

In a story carried by ABC News, Associated Press writers Jordan Robertson and Marcus Wohlsen disclosed the names of two victims from the recent tiger attack at the San Fransisco zoo. The article notes that "Their names were provided by hospital and law enforcement sources who spoke on condition of anonymity because the family had not yet given permission to release their names."

These writers (and their editors) evidently felt it was worth wasting a few inches of column space for no other purpose than to wag their middle fingers at the concept of family privacy. What public interest is served by disclosing the names of these victims at this time? I, for one, don't care what their names are, but their families obviously cared enough to request anonymity. It seems bizarre that these writers, their editors, and "hospital and law-enforcement sources" would collude to disclose this information against family wishes. Perhaps they are expecting some random person to step up and say, "Kulbir Dhaliwal? I know him! I've seen him taunt tigers all the time! He just can't help himself around a tiger cage."

Actually, I hope that's exactly what happens. May these events unfold to prove my outrage frivolous (more than it is already).