I am appalled at the lack of discretion used by the Peninsula Clarion when you broke the story about Bradley Elliott and the charges brought against him. We live in a day and age where the “shock factor” seems to be lifted higher and higher in an effort to desensitize the general public. Of course it is appropriate to inform the public about crime and the allegations brought against an individual, but the graphic and descriptive content used in your article crossed a line. When an individual breaks the law, they are still connected to loved ones who carry the weight of what you publish for the world to read. Either you didn’t care that there might be a wife, children, grandchildren, mother, father, brothers and sisters who would be scarred by the news when you published in horrific detail what happened or you were hoping to boost your online and physical readers of the Peninsula Clarion.
For the protection of innocent family members whose loved ones might break the law in the future, I ask that you use better judgement in the amount of graphic and explicit detail that you provide in your articles. The families deserve better, and I hope we will be there for them.