( CNN ) -- The nation 's news media are sure to cover the one-year anniversary of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School extensively on Saturday . But for the most part , these news organizations say they will acquiesce to the requests of local community members and not report from Newtown , Connecticut , the town where Adam Lanza killed 20 first-graders and six adults at the now-demolished school on December 14 , 2012 . The massacre was the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history . CNN said in a statement that while it `` plans to cover the one-year anniversary across our networks and platforms , we are respecting the wishes of the families , and we are not reporting from Newtown on Saturday . '' Similarly , an NBC spokeswoman said in an e-mail that `` NBC News is respecting the town 's wishes and our broadcasts have no plans to be in Newtown for the anniversary . '' Other television networks issued almost identical statements when contacted . Such decisions are exceptionally rare for news organizations and underline the tension between the necessity of covering tragedy and respecting the people who are being covered -- in this case , parents with dead children and their neighbors . What really makes schools safer ? In the run-up to the anniversary , Newtown officials said they hoped the press would not descend on the small town , stirring debate about what reporters should and should not do . `` We are wishing fervently that those many persons who wish us well , and the media , will allow us this time to be alone and quiet with time for personal and communal reflection , '' said Pat Llodra , the town 's first selectman , a role similar to that of mayor . But the job of journalists is , at times , to document such reflection and share it with the public . The Associated Press said it will provide `` respectful coverage '' of the anniversary Saturday , `` as we have since Day One of Newtown 's tragedy . '' `` As a news cooperative , owned by some 1,400 daily newspapers across the country , and as a provider of news and information to hundreds of other customers worldwide , AP also recognizes its obligation to report on how Newtown is coming together to mourn and heal , '' a spokesman for the news organization said . Many news organizations visited Newtown ahead of the anniversary to conduct reporting to televise and publish on Saturday . CBS News was among those , and the network signaled this week it would not have a camera crew in the town Saturday . `` We are sensitive to the families ' concerns and will cover the anniversary in the least intrusive way possible , '' said Tim Gaughan , director of special events for CBS News . Newtown residents plead for privacy . Newspaper and online journalists are generally able to maintain low profiles on sensitive assignments , with notebooks and cell phones the only necessary tools of the trade . Television journalists , on the other hand , are more often accompanied by intrusive cameras , microphones and trucks . Like the national networks , local television stations in Connecticut have said they will avoid using Newtown as a backdrop for live shots . Kelly McBride , an editor of the book `` The New Ethics of Journalism : Principles for the 21st Century , '' wrote in a Poynter Institute blog post Friday that it `` would be wrong to leave the anniversary itself unnoticed , '' but that such coverage can and should be done with sensitivity . `` We live in a media world of excess . With self-discipline , restraint and a sense of service to our audience -- rather than to our ratings or web metrics -- journalists should be able to provide meaningful stories a year after Newtown , '' McBride wrote . `` And possibly such efforts can set the tone for future tragedies . '' U.S. school violence fast facts .
Saturday is one-year anniversary of mass shooting at Newtown , Connecticut , school . Comment: Newtown officials had urged media to respect families , not descend on the small town .