LETTERS

TO THE EDITOR

Intrusive photo

To the editor:

I became a subscriber to the Record in 2023 upon reading about the raid on the newspaper by aggrieved local authorities.

I am a great supporter of local news outlets that, while not perfect, serve to keep communities knowledgeable and offer what is often the only avenue for debate and dialog, both of which are vital to a functioning democracy.

And I have renewed the subscription despite most of the time not knowing who or what I was reading about.

I can tell from the tone of the editorials and some of the stories that the editor is, perhaps, somewhat cantankerous and does not shy away from stories that some in the various covered localities would consider controversial.

The ability to discuss differences of opinion in public is what makes a democracy vibrant and, to use the recently overworked term, great.

However, the front page, above the fold photograph of the entire family of the teacher charged with sexual misconduct in the March 4 edition was so sensational and egregious as to be beyond the pale of public discourse.

There is nothing, nothing at all newsworthy about what a family at a newborn’s baptism looks like, no matter what the father may be charged with.

The editor’s explanation, that the photograph was already on the internet and that the paper will “always err on the side of providing more information,” is not only disingenuous but verges on being malicious.

No information was gained, and much journalistic reputation lost. The teacher will be charged and tried for the same crimes no matter whether he was single, married, or divorced with one or ten newborn babies. And much was lost.

The wife, children, aunts, and uncles will have a difficult enough time going forward without the newspaper publishing what can only be a self-serving attempt to, I suppose, boost circulation.

The newspaper and its editor should be ashamed.

Nash Bilisoly
Norfolk, Virginia

Editor’s note: Publication of the photo, with the family members’ identities concealed, was designed to remind everyone that pedophilia, as alleged in this case, is not confined to a certain class of people, but can occur even in what appear to be model families and, therefore, may not be something easily detected in background checks.