28 August 2006

About sense and sensitivity

Natascha Kampusch, the Austrian giril kidnapped by a psycho who kept her eight and a half years in captivity, released a statement to the press. It is true, as some commenters mentioned, that she seems to be a level-headed person with a strong character. However, the trauma she underwent could be glimpsed in a single quote from her letter:

It is true that my youth was different to the youth of others, but in principle I don't feel I missed anything. On the contrary, there are certain things I avoided, having nothing to do with smoking or drinking to start off with, and I didn't meet the wrong friends.

She continues with a call to the media:

Message to the media: The one thing I would appeal for from the press is a stop to the insulting reports, the misinterpretations of reality, the commentaries that claim to know better and the lack of respect for me.

The letter quoted above comes from the Daily Mail - the same rag that published the article about this tragic story under a headline: Teenage dungeon sex slave defends her captor.

Many thanks, Daily Mail, for your sensitivity and your considerate treatment of the young and fragile soul. I hope that the editor in charge of that headline had tissue ready to clean up...

Update: It is about half an hour since I have posted this. Immediately after publishing this post, I have submitted a comment to the article with this post linked to it. Now say what you want about the power of blogging, but it took only half an hour for the headlines editor in question (or somebody else, while the headline editor was forcibly restrained) to change the headline to the following: Sex slave defends captor and 'mourns his death'. I realise that cutting in half the sleaze in that headline is a brave move of self-sacrifice.

P.S. My comment in Daily Mail was not published so far. I shall keep you updated on the new developments, if any.

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