Tuesday, December 20, 2005
The New York Times rediscovers journalism . . .
in a great way.
Kurt Eichenwald, a Times reporter, takes us through the looking glass into the sordid world of online, underage pornography. Through his investigative journalism, Eichenwald not only persuaded the primary subject of the investigative report, a 19 year old California man named Justin, to turn from participating in online pornography (Justin started participating through his web-cam at age 13), he also helped Justin gain immunity from the FBI in return for his cooperation in identifying and prosecuting hundreds of men who patronized his site (thereby illegally trafficking in child pornography) and the many men who molested him through online enticements that lead to face-to-face meetings.
A good read -- and a good example of the art of journalism by a newspaper whose work in that field has suffered lately.