How to Get an Old News Article About You Updated or Unpublished

Why old stories are so hard to escape

Local news used to fade. A story about a minor arrest or a small business dispute ran once, went into the paper's archive, and was effectively gone a week later unless someone went looking in the library. Now that archive is searchable, and an old story from a well-established news site can rank near the top of results for your name for years.

That changes the stakes. A story that was a small item at the time can now be one of the first things a potential employer, landlord, or date sees. Newsrooms have noticed this too. Over the past decade, editors have debated how to balance an accurate historical record against the lasting harm that old stories can cause to private people, especially for minor matters.

How newsrooms think about these requests

Journalists are trained to be wary of unpublishing. The archive is a record, and removing stories at the request of the people in them could let powerful people erase coverage they dislike. That concern is real, and you should expect it to shape how your request is read.

At the same time, many editors now recognize that the harm can be out of proportion for minor matters involving private people. The factors that tend to matter most:

The University of Wisconsin's Center for Journalism Ethics and Poynter have both published guidance for newsrooms on building unpublishing policies, which gives a good sense of how editors approach this.

• How serious the matter was. A minor offense or misdemeanor gets more consideration than a violent crime or a story about public corruption.
• Whether you are a public figure. Private people get more sympathy than elected officials, executives, or celebrities.
• How old the story is. Older stories are more likely to be reviewed.
• Whether the outcome changed. Dropped charges, acquittal, dismissal, expungement, or sealing are strong reasons to update or revisit a story.
• Whether the story was accurate. If it contained errors, that is a correction request, which is a different and usually easier conversation.
• Ongoing public interest. If the story is about something people still need to know, like a public safety issue, it is less likely to change.

Programs that have changed the landscape

A few newsrooms have built formal processes for these requests, which shows how thinking has shifted.

The Boston Globe's Fresh Start initiative, launched in 2021, invited people to ask the paper to review older stories about them. The Globe described considering whether to update a story, anonymize it, or remove it from search, with a focus on minor crimes and situations where a story's continued visibility was out of proportion to its news value. Nieman Reports and NPR both covered the program and the debate around it.

Cleveland.com announced a right-to-be-forgotten process in 2018, focused on removing names or mug shots from stories about minor crimes, especially where records were later expunged. Its editor wrote publicly about expanding the program and the reasoning behind it.

The Associated Press announced in 2021 that it would generally stop naming suspects in minor crime stories that it was unlikely to follow up on, because those names could follow people indefinitely without an update on what happened next.

These programs do not mean every outlet will remove your story. They mean the idea of revisiting old coverage is now a normal topic in newsrooms, and a respectful, well-documented request will usually get a real reading.

What to ask for

Think about the smallest change that would solve your problem. Editors are much more open to modest changes.

If you are not sure what would help most, it is fine to say so and ask what options they consider.

• An update or editor's note. "Update: Charges against [name] were dismissed on [date]." This keeps the record intact and adds the ending. It is the most commonly granted change.
• Anonymizing. Removing your name, or replacing it with a description, from a story about a minor matter.
• Removing a mug shot or photo. Some outlets will remove an image while leaving the text.
• Removing the story from search engines. Some outlets can add a code to the page asking search engines not to index it, so the story stays in their archive but stops showing up in searches for your name.
• Full removal. Taking the story down entirely. This is the least common outcome and is usually reserved for exceptional cases.

How to write the request

Follow the same principles as any correction request: short, specific, polite, and evidenced. Here is what to include:

Example of the impact line: "Because the story appears first when my name is searched, I have had to explain it in two recent job interviews, even though the case was dismissed." That is specific and believable. Avoid language that sounds like a threat or a demand.

Send it to the outlet's standards editor, corrections address, or managing editor. If the outlet has a specific form, use it. If the original reporter is still there, you can copy them.

• The story's headline, date, and URL
• One sentence on who you are and how you appear in the story
• What changed since publication, stated factually
• Evidence, such as a court order showing dismissal or expungement
• A brief, honest explanation of the impact, in one or two sentences, without exaggeration
• The specific change you are asking for

If you were arrested but not convicted

This is one of the most common situations, and it has its own guide: what to do about an old arrest news story. The short version is that an outcome document showing dismissal, acquittal, or expungement is the single most persuasive thing you can send. If your record was expunged or sealed, say so and attach proof, because some outlets have specific policies for that.

If a mugshot is involved, our series on mugshots and arrest records covers the separate laws and options for mugshot sites.

If the answer is no

An editor may decline. That is their right, and arguing rarely changes the outcome. Some next steps:

• Ask for a smaller change. If they will not remove the story, will they add an update?
• Ask if they will reconsider later. Some outlets revisit decisions after more time has passed.
• Check Google's policies. Google does not remove lawful news stories on request, but if the story contains your private contact information or ID numbers, its removal policies might apply to that specific content.
• Publish your current story. A personal site and current profiles give searchers a fuller picture. See can you push down negative results.

After a change: tell Google

If the outlet updates or removes the story, Google may still show the old headline or snippet for a while. Use Google's refresh outdated content tool to request a recrawl once the live page has changed. If the story was removed, the same tool can request that the dead link be dropped.

Be wary of anyone who says they can make a newspaper delete a story

Reputable news organizations make these decisions themselves. Someone who promises to get a story removed for a fee, regardless of the facts, is either overpromising or using methods that can backfire, such as fake legal complaints. See paying to remove negative content: red flags.

Common questions

Sources

1. The Globe's Fresh Start initiative: Submit your appeal (The Boston Globe)
2. With Fresh Start, The Boston Globe Weighs News Value of Older Articles Versus Individual Harm (Nieman Reports)
3. From Cleveland To Boston, Newsrooms Revisit Old Stories To Offer A Fresh Start (NPR)
4. Right to be forgotten: Cleveland.com rolls out process to remove mug shots, names from old stories (cleveland.com)
5. Why we're no longer naming suspects in minor crime stories (The Associated Press)
6. Creating an unpublishing policy (UW-Madison Center for Journalism Ethics)
7. Refresh outdated content (Google Search Help)