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When Is It Too Much Information? One Man's Opinion

By Ben Meisner

-by Ben Meisner

As last week drew to a close, another man was sentenced to a term of three and half years for his involvement in a kiddy porn ring which stretched across several countries. Some of the images that were shown in court were so sick that even the officers involved in the case had difficulty in placing them as exhibits. 

Now the question then, (and still today) is what responsibility does the media have in dealing with these cases? 

Should we in fact even go so far as to tell  readers that some person was having sex with an 18 month old child, or, equally as horrifying,  having sex with a three year old friend of his daughter who had come to their house to play?  You truly are torn, because if we are to focus on the issue and that is that there are some very sick people out there, then it is important to lay all of the facts, as sick as they may be, before the public. 

On the other hand, there are some who would suggest the media are then just sensationalizing the issue. It has been a question that I have dealt with many times over my time in this business,  and in the  end I always believed the public should be the judge. 

In this instance, there are two aspects
1. that there are people so perverted out there as to be unbelievable for most of us 
2. the kind of support that police agencies have received in trying to stamp out this kind of behavior. 

Even Bill Gates, who as the richest man on the planet, contracted his company to come up with a means of trying to follow the paths of these kiddy porn seekers.  Visa, Master Card, and all of the other credit card companies have said they will not allow any transaction of this type to take place on their watch. 

The screen that you are watching today has granted you a window on the world and an opportunity to access information  we used to dream about, unfortunately,  it can also expose you to nightmares.

I’m Meisner and that is one man's opinion.
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