Protecting its readers

By Kellie Green

What should the media post and what should they not post? On editorswebblog.org I came across a blog referring to a news paper in Scotland that publishes photos of the worst criminals within their area.

I found this really interesting because I think that the media should print this information so that their citizens know about dangers that may be lurking in their area.

In the newspaper, News and Star ,it has a gallery of photos of these criminals. It is a lot like how the Des Moines Register puts in a list of Iowa sex offenders. It shows photos of the criminals, their name and what they did.

It helps keep people aware of what is going on in their area. I think that allowing these in newspapers is very important but at the same time it makes me wonder how far can media go with this.

What if the newspapers start publishing everyone, that gets arrested, in the newspaper? Not saying that they will but it might get out of hand someday. However, at this point I think it is well needed.

The newspapers are printing about criminals that everyone needs to know about. The ones that knowing who they are might save or protect a citizen in the long run. It feels as if the media wants to protect their readers as much as the police try to protect their citizens.