The article that was run in the Times-Union about the 21 men involved in a "sex" ring at Oakwood Cemetery, Pike Lake, Lucerne Park and other locations was tasteless. I, along with others that have a heart, think that by running the names of the men involved was nothing short of tabloid magazine material. What purpose does it serve to publicly humiliate those supposedly involved?By stating there was a problem, there is a police investigation, and that there were arrests would have been suffice, but by listing all of the names of those supposedly involved (I say supposedly because we are all innocent until proven guilty) the Times-Union has unethically used the right of freedom of speech to humiliate these men and their families.
The Times-Union should be ashamed of their reporting skills. Listing names was not reporting the news, listing names was publicly humiliating and further embarrassing these men and their families. Did you think that being accused was not enough, maybe the potential break up of their families was not enough, or the potential loss of the jobs was not enough and the Times-Union thought they would just help out and make the situation worse for those accused?
I am not in any way trying to make excuses for them. If they were truly involved in this type of activity they should be embarrassed because they should have never put themselves in the situation in which they did. They should have thought about their families and the consequences of their actions. I think the Times-Union should have thought about what they were reporting and how the public display of those accused was a case of poor reporting.
I am not a fan of the media and the Times-Union is a good example of why that is. It would do the world so much good if the media would be forced to take a course in ethics and social responsibility and then have required continuing education on those subjects.
