TheMediaReport.com was founded in 2004 by David F. Pierre, Jr. (more) and has since grown into an educational cooperative to chronicle and monitor the mainstream media's coverage of the Catholic Church sex abuse narrative.
The topic of child sex abuse is at once both revolting and heartbreaking. One can hardly imagine the unquenchable pain and intense suffering which so many victims must endure today and throughout their lives as a result of the betrayal of trust by the very adults charged with their care. Justice demands first and foremost that those who misuse the trust placed in them and use innocent children for their own gratification be incarcerated and severely punished. The protection of children is paramount.
But the media's treatment of sex abuse in the Catholic Church is a different story.
The overall narrative has been largely driven by a symbiosis of wealthy contingency lawyers who have made an industry out of suing the Catholic Church, a small cadre of purported "experts" who provide the needed testimony for the lawyers, and noisy victims' advocate groups who are funded largely by the contingency lawyers and who in turn feed the lawyers more clients.
Many of the stories now recounted in the media are simply retreads of stories of abuse from many decades earlier often filled with exaggeration, sensationalism, and hysteria. The truth has been lost somewhere.
This warped media narrative only serves to distract and undermine serious efforts to address child abuse where the vast quantity of it occurs today: in public schools, in all organizations that deal with youth, and – most notably – in children's homes.
We believe that better journalism will lead to a safer world for children.
Feel free to contact TheMediaReport.com at dfp323 (at) yahoo (dot) com.
