I had a journalism teacher/adviser (high-school) teach me much the same thing back in the early 80’s. Ethnic or racial characteristics were to be left out unless they have a bearing on the story. The above used to be the conservative way of looking at things . . . funny how it’s been completely reversed. I see the conservative response here (on FR) as a backlash against racial-identity politics.
Whatever happened to who, what, where, when and how as the basics of reporting?