A story we published in Wednesday’s edition led to a little discussion.

The piece was “Powerful statement” and it was written by staff writer Linda Harris. It detailed the sentencing of Everett Mitchell, the former pastor at the Tower of Power Church on Maryland Avenue in Steubenville.

After Mitchell’s decision to plead guilty to sexual battery and sexual imposition, with both offenses happening while the victim was a minor and living under his roof, Jefferson County Common Pleas Judge Michelle Miller handed down a sentence that includes 24 months in prison, five years in post-release control and the requirement that he register as a sex offender every 90 days for the rest of his life.

And while the story was sad in many ways, it also was compelling, because it concentrated on the victim impact statement prepared by the victim in the case, Raelin Scurry, and read by Prosecutor Jane Hanlin.

Stories involving sexual assault can be tricky for newspapers. Our policy, like that of just about every other news outlet, is to not release the name of the victim in such cases. And that can create a very fine line for us to follow as the process plays out. Not using the name is the easy part for a reporter– you just don’t do it. But you also have to be careful with the reporting that is done as a case proceeds through trial, providing enough information to accurately portray what has happened in the courtroom while not offering so much that it becomes easy to connect the accused with the victim, and, for all practical purposes, makes it easy to place a name with the victim.

It can lead to a lot of discussion among writers and editors about just how much detail a story can provide.

There were no such concerns about Wednesday’s story and only a very little bit of discussion. That was because Scurry and Hanlin wanted the media to use Scurry’s name while reporting on details of the impact statement.

And it all showed great courage, not only to write the statement, but to stand in the courtroom as the words were read and to watch as Mitchell had to stand there and listen.

If you haven’t read the story, you need to, and if you have already seen it, you should read it again.

It’s a good example of good reporting, and it shows the importance of a free press that is able to have free and open access to our court system. And that’s something we can all think about as Sunshine Week 2020 begins today.

Operating under the theme of “It’s your right to know,” Sunshine Week is an annual collaboration between the News Leaders Association and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. It’s designed to celebrate the access of public information and what it means to journalists and the communities they serve.

It helps shine the spotlight on the diligence needed to ensure that the availability of records and access to meetings and government proceedings — including the work of courts — remains open. Those freedoms, which are guaranteed by the Constitution, are under constant attack, and it requires great diligence on the part of professional journalists to ensure they are protected.

That’s work we take pretty seriously. Reporters are not shy about questioning elected or appointed officials about the reason an executive session has been called, for example. Editors are right to question actions taken during meetings that were held without the appropriate notification, and everyone wants to make sure justice is served in an open manner in our courts, and that they don’t become star chambers where justice is randomly and arbitrarily meted out.

The system keeps all sides honest. Public officials need to know what their obligations and requirements are when it comes to holding a meeting or taking any action. Reporters and editors need to make sure the meetings stay open. And readers must continue to demand that officials fulfill their duties and journalists fight to make information available.

Sadly, while the watchdog function of the media is, arguably, needed now more than ever, the number of journalists employed at newspapers gets smaller and smaller, dropping from 71,000 newsroom employees in 2008 to 38,000 in 2018, according to statistics included in a story written by Elizabeth Grieco for the Pew Research Center.

Still, the fight will continue. It’s that open access, that freedom to report the goings on in institutions like our courts, that are vital to our society.

Scurry’s word’s would have been interesting if they had been delivered by an anonymous victim.

But being able to know who said them, and being asked by her and Hanlin to make her name known, Scurry’s story become even more powerful and allowed area residents to see that she would not be intimidated.

(Gallabrese, a resident of Steubenville, is executive editor of the Herald-Star and The Weirton Daily Times.)