An odd, possibly sinister, situation has emerged over an article posted two days ago on the excellent US-based Salon.com website entitled Why I need to see child porn. Written by an award-winning journalist, Debbie Nathan, it appears to have been removed from the site. I wrote to Ms Nathan to ask why and she replied that she cannot "publicly discuss yet what happened", suggesting that I write to the editor of Salon, which I have done.
According to excerpts seen by users before its removal, it is a challenging piece, arguing that journalists must be allowed to access child pornography sites in order to distinguish fact from fiction. At present, she writes, the American government "has declared an entire field of law enforcement and public policy off-limits from empirical critique by academia and the fourth estate."
She has in mind the jailing two years ago of a journalist, Lawrence Matthews, because he downloaded child porn while researching an article. Courts were not prepared to accept his defence under the First Amendment (protecting freedom of the press). Nathan's article was up long enough to prompt a lengthy discussion at a Christian World Views site. By coincidence, a New Orleans paper yesterday reported that Leonard Gray, the managing editor of the twice-weekly L'Observateur in LaPlace, Louisiana, has been charged with possessing child pornography. It is not known whether he will attempt to advance the same defence as Matthews. (Via Fairness in Accuracy & Reporting )
