You can't make that stuff up

   Apparently, we hit some nerves with two recent stories.  One was written by our religion reporter, Jay Tokasz, about a lawsuit filed in California that claimed the Buffalo Diocese sent a pedophile priest to San Diego in the late 1970s.

   The other was a two-part series, written by reporter Stephen T. Watson, which explained how prostitution has been changed by the Web and other high-tech advancements. Sunday's Part 1 can be found at this link. And Part 2, which was published Monday, can be found at this link.

If there is a theme to the reader complaints, it would be this: Don't write about such unpleasant things, and they won't exist.

Huh?

Seriously, one person who knew the priest that was the focus of Tokasz's story didn't believe a word of it. She felt he was a fine priest, so we must have made the story up. Maybe the National Enquirer makes things up, but real newspapers don't. Tokasz's report was thoroughly researched, reported and carefully written. And it was based in reality.

As for the prostitution stories, readers complained that by publishing such stories, "we [The News] are part of the problem." And, "the paper has sunk to a new low." And, the stories were just "free advertising" for prostitutes. And, how could we publish "such disgusting stories."

Well, our job is to report what's happening in our community, no matter how upsetting or unpleasant the topic. We write such stories carefully, knowing some readers may be disturbed by the subject matter.

Still, it is our obligation to inform the public of such things. Certainly, ignoring them won't make them go away. It would only make matters worse.

Comments

[Chancellor Carlyle Roberts, II]

Princess Strawberry said, "THey should have their children removed from their home! Where's the outrage over that?!"

I'm outraged over your implication that government is the solution to everything! Raising children is the parents' responsibility, not the government's. Unless the children are being physically or sexually abused (and no, spanking is not abuse), the government needs to keep its nose out of families' lives. Once you let the government have the power to butt its nose into your family, it's not long before government starts trying to run every area of your life.

And to think, there was a time when Americans actually believed in liberty.

[Princess Strawberry]

I am disgusted that more people weren't outraged by the prostitution article. Not for the fact that it printed such information, but because of the new lows these people sink to! The husband and wife who are both involved, and their kids know about it too? THey should have their children removed from their home! Where's the outrage over that?!

[maxine]

Pretending that something we don't like isn't real is a very human thing. It's so much easier to close your eyes, your ears and your mind, so you don't have to think. It's sad and in some cases it's worse than that, it's harmful. You cannot improve a bad situation by pretending it isn't there or refusing to look at it. Sometimes, we have to be made to feel uncomfortable, or nothing gets done.

[Robert]

I guess some people can't handle the truth!

[Chancellor Carlyle Roberts, II]

We all know (or should know) that truth is stranger than fiction. You did your job by reporting things that are happening in our community. It's when you decide that you need to jump on the bandwagon and report what all the other papers in the nation are reporting that I think you people are dropping the ball.