8. The decision point

Given the demands of a digital newsroom, BuzzFeed’s Daro and Strapagiel didn’t have long to decide whether or not they would blur the faces.

They debated for about 10 to 15 minutes as Daro filed the story, Strapagiel says.

Daro maintained that the partygoers shouldn’t be held responsible for their actions because of their young age, while Strapagiel argued that the participants had made deliberate choices about how to behave in public and didn’t need to be protected.

In the absence of clear guidelines and policy, BuzzFeed opted for an ad-hoc decision, based on a “gut check” in the newsroom, Daro says.

Next: 9. Epilogue