A montage of mug shots occupying most of the front page shows all 272 convicted sex offenders in Sheboygan County, Wisc. It illustrates a fine Sheboygan Press story today, analyzing the demographics of sex crime perpetrators.Nearly 70% of the cases involved crimes against children, the Press's Eric Litke found. His story is the first in a two-part series that includes a searchable online sex-offender database. (It looks like the Press didn't publish cutlines, identifying each of the 272 photos; judge for yourself, with this more readable view.) Photo illustration by Sam Castro and Gary C. Klein, Press, via Newseum.
I'm flat-out amazed that the Press and Litke dared to even take on that package. I once reported on dozens of county jail guards at The Courier-Journal in Louisville, Ky., who were escaping punishment for workplace infractions that included deliberately beating inmatess. We ran mugs and bios of the five worst cases -- all of them still on the jail force. After the story ran, one of them called me and left a specifically threatening message -- on my voice mail! And he got off! This kind of work is hard and dangerous. Kudos, Sheboygan!
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I quickly lose interest in any story that includes only official (the police, judges, counselors) sources. Sorry, but this was one of them.
ReplyDeleteIn New Jersey, the law that makes release of the sex offender database public also requires that it not be used to harass them. If the law is similar in Wisconsin, I'm wondering if publishing the pictures of all past offenders who have served their time can be defended as newsworthy and not harassment.
ReplyDeleteI'm no apologist for the sex offenders, to be sure, but when privacy rights of even these people who committed despicable acts are compromised, so are all of ours.
I'm a parent and also a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, so you might think I'd be all for a story like this. I'm not comfortable with it for the reasons already stated but also another:
ReplyDeleteA list such as this is a false sense of protection. Even if all on the list are deserving, the real danger to children are the ones who aren't caught. Children rarely report, either because they just don't know what happened to them is a crime or because they are intimidated by adult authority.
The best way to protect your children is to teach them good touch/bad touch and that they have your unconditional love even when they communicate with you things that upset you.
I approve of these sex-offender lists and reporting to neighbors when an ex-con moves into a community. I think they should do the same with all major crimes, though. But a superficial story such as this smacks of a witch hunt, unnecessarily. The most enlightening part is the comments, interestingly enough, don't you think?
Maybe Sheboygan will reach out to the offender and spouse commenting there and add them to the second installment in the series. Our software stores the posters' email addresses. This is one of the benefits to having a 24/7, real-time online paper. The reporter should take advantage of that.
FYI, we're not predominately Asian or jaundiced in Wisconsin. For some reason, RTC gives us photos with enough yellow in the skin tones to paint a school bus.
ReplyDeleteWell, we are that jaundiced, but just because we've pickled our livers. And if you're watching the Packers with me today, you know why we drink more than the rest of the country.....
The female offenders are kinda cute.
This story didn't impress me, either. These are people who have already gone through the system and done their time. It's all on the record stuff, so its safe and avoids legal fees.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a book report rather than a compelling news story. I have to wonder if maybe that's the style these days---a stenographed account of "official" quotes with no conflict, balance or storytelling. It makes me so sad when I see this style of reporting creeping even into USAT this past year.
ReplyDeleteC'mon. Sheboygan is a 23K-circ paper, meaning the reporter was graciously given approximately an extra hour to report and write this story over the time spent on a food drive advancer. Give the guy a break.
ReplyDeleteIt was a bitch getting them all to sit still for the photos too. Talk about scheduling conflicts!
ReplyDeleteGood thing The Press is two blocks from the county cop shop.
Amen, 9:09 pm: I'm amazed that the Press and Litke dared to even take on that package. I once reported on dozens of county jail guards in Louisville, Ky., who were avoiding punishment for deliberately beating inmates and other infractions. We ran mugs and bios of the five worst cases -- all of them still on the jail force. One of them called me and left a specifically threatening message -- on my voice mail! This kind of work is hard and sometimes dangerous.
ReplyDeleteWould have been cool to use photo mosaic software with all those shots. Maybe in the shape of a tiny winkee?
ReplyDeleteThe strip ad at the bottom is geared towards children...WHOOPS!
ReplyDelete