Memo to Boston Herald editor Kevin Convey: When leading with a celebrity-arrest story, make sure the arrestee is an actual celebrity. It’s always tough to go with one of these stories when you have to give over a good part of it to explaining who Reese Hopkins is. I mean, was.
At least us old-timers have heard of Bob Gamere, the former television sportscaster who’s been arrested on child-pornography charges (Herald coverage here; Globe coverage here).
A friend of Media Nation asks if it really makes sense to lock up Gamere. Since Gamere is innocent unless found guilty, let me change the question: Does it make sense to lock up a 69-year-old man if he’s been distribuing child pornography via e-mail? Of course, I’m talking about a theoretical 69-year-old man, strictly in a hypothetical sense.
Answer: Hell, yes. This is not mere possession, which probably shouldn’t be punishable by prison. Anyone who would do what our hypothetical 69-year-old man has been charged with doing is a danger to society.
OK. Off to look at the redesigned Boston Globe. More in a bit.
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Doug Shugarts
With the Gamere story, the Herald missed a golden opportunity to outdo the NY Post and publish THE tabloid headline of the year: “GUTTERBALL.”My $0.02 of Friday fun.
Scott Allen Miller
“Mere” possession shouldn’t be punished? You want to only punish the suppliers of kiddie porn, not those who create demand for it?What next, we only arrest people who distribute guns illegally but not those who possess them illegally, too? Or are guns inherently dangerous while the exploitation of children in pornography isn’t?
Ani
I read from time to time about how much pornography is consumed on-line by so many Americans. I have no idea how much of this is what we call child pornography. Maybe if we chose a name for this category that focused on the damage to the children, instead of one that seems to point to the gratification of the viewer, we would be better able to keep a better perspective on why we are against it in particular. “Pictorial child sexual abuse” is clumsy but an example of what I mean.
Mike F
“Shouldn’t be punishable by prison” does not equal shouldn’t be punished.Also, your gun analogy is terrible.
The Arranger
The gun analogy is bad, but I firmly believe that possession of child porn (unless it was an unwitting opening of a spam e-mail or some other act without intent) should be punishable by imprisonment.And is 69 too old to be accountable for your actions now, or too old to be a threat to society? I don’t get it. Can’t 69-year-old men email? At least some of them?Bob in Peabody
bostonmediawatch
Hey miller, give me your computer, I want to have Nancy Grace take a quick look and see if there’s anything you’re guilty of.