Government by Tabloid?

So the "Sarah's Law" debate rumbles on. This is the British version of the American "Megan's Law" whereby paedophiles are named and their whereabouts are made known to local parents. The idea is that they are too well identified to risk re-offending. But the truth - even in the "land of the free" - is that it leaves the offenders open to vigilante groups who hound them out at best and at worst maim these people.
I am not defending paedophilia - the very thought disgusts me. But self-righteous people, or even people who are just plain scared, can react very inhumanely at times. Fear is a great motivator. It can rouse normally mundane urbanites into a rioting mob. Examples of this fear have been shown in the past with crowds surrounding the homes of known convicted offenders.
Police Chief Terry Grange has castigated such actions, saying that - far from doing any good - it could lead to such offenders going underground where they could not be traced. Mr Grange stated that a particular newspaper's vendetta against paedophiles was counter-productive for the reason that while the police are able to keep a close watch on such people they are less likely to re-offend. He likened the campaign to "blackmail" of government policy. He also said that this year alone in the states in the US where Megan's Law is enacted six people have been traced through the offenders register and murdered. Vigilante rule - in the "land of the free".
The "newspaper" in question is the News of the World, a Sunday rag that normally fills its pages with plenty of tits, bums and celebrity scandals to attract readers. It is owned by a company called News International, headed by that well-known Australian tycoon Rupert Murdoch.
Australians are just like us, normal law-abiding people. They are a young nation with origins which can be seen in my blog of June 6. So does Mr Murdoch have a dubious ancestry? Nuff said? This rag, and its sister daily The Sun, usually rely on the aforesaid tits and bums to sell copies. But, when the owner smells blood, they can change their political allegiance and castigate a government which they previously congratulated themselves on helping to win power. It's called always being on the winning side - otherwise known as being two-faced for the sake of sales.
Self-righteousness from media sources is not going to clean up the world.
Neither will this self-righteous blog.
As a child I, and some of my friends, were the minor victims of several paedophiles. But in those days we just shut up and accepted it. I am glad that that is not the case today. Adults now listen to children who tell of such assaults and so the true extent of these acts is nearer to being understood and tackled.
Paedophilia is wrong. It is sick. But to hound the perpetrators - even murder them - is not the way to solve the problem. I don't know all the answers - I always end up with a phrase like that - but scaring the public for the sake of newspaper sales is definitely not the way to do it.
Nuff said.