The past week has been difficult for the media. They skirted ethical issues as if negotiating an obstacle course trying to cover the story of a 13-year-old traveller who was pregnant after an alleged rape.

The story first appeared in The Irish Times last Friday headed "Man wanted for alleged rape of girl (13)". It said the girl was from west Dublin and the alleged rape took place 11 weeks ago.

However, it was the Sunday World that prised the story open. "Rape child to have abortion" said a front-page piece written by Joanne McElgunn. She was contacted by the girl's father and quoted him as saying: "We pray that God will forgive us for wanting an abortion, but we feel that our daughter will be tortured for her rest of her life if she has a rape baby."

For the rest of the week the story veered between legal analysis of the constitutional position since the X case, the role of the Eastern Health Board, the failure of politicians to enact legislation and the two referendums on travel and information.

However, the question of the girl and her family was never far from the surface and with it the fear somebody would identify her.

The photographs of the parents used in the Sunday World were so distorted to disguise them as to be little more than large blobs of colour.

The girl being 13 and an alleged rape victim should have guaranteed her anonymity.

She was in that her name has never been published. However, critics have suggested that the publication of a photograph of her family caravan in The Irish Times went some way towards identifying the family, especially among the travelling community.

The Irish Times has insisted that it has been careful to publish nothing which would identify the girl or her family while seeking to describe their adverse living conditions.

It has pointed out that the photograph was taken from a distance and was carefully angled and cropped to conceal any detail which might reveal its location.

Last Wednesday the Sun described the location of her address.

The public also heard what the father sounded like after an interview on RTE's Morning Ireland.

It has been a journalistic convention that children under 16 are given anonymity. In some instances, such as rape cases, names are kept out of the media under the Criminal Law Act.

There are also international treaties that Ireland has signed guaranteeing the privacy of children. Both the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights insist that the privacy of children and family life be respected.

In 1985 the Broadcasting Complaints Commission upheld a complaint after a child who had been abused was identified on a Today Tonight programme. The complainant was concerned at this invasion of privacy, even if the parents had consented.

The Report of the Commission of the Newspaper Industry, published last year stated: "In the case of a child, an invasion of privacy would appear to be justified if the publication were capable of contributing to the protection or well-being of that child or of other children, or is inexplicably involved in the justifiable invasion of the privacy of an adult."

However, there is another issue for the media: why was the story of such interest? Since the X case official figures, which tend to be very conservative, suggest that about 100 under-age girls have gone to England for abortions. None of those cases warranted press coverage.

There were also fears that the story received such attention only because the girl was a traveller.

The Irish Traveller Movement voiced its concern, saying travellers were vulnerable to media pressure, and even if the parents were willing to talk the media should adhere to their own codes about children.

There is also a fear that if a man is charged with rape he might be able to argue that a fair trial is impossible following the media coverage the case has attracted.

On Tuesday Sam Smyth wrote in the Irish Independent: "It's time for cool heads, still tongues and idle lawyers. If we can get over the next few days without a fevered rush to the Four Courts, a family tragedy will not become a family crisis."

His advice fell on deaf ears as far as the media were concerned.