Pandering to an audience or whipping up moral panic?

I mentioned a recent Sunday Star Times article in a previous post. A front page story about the conviction of a sex offender with form. He pleaded guilty and at the time of writing was awaiting sentencing. I said at the time that the SST was promoting moral panic and creating a climate of fear with its reporting. I’ve also had an interesting day: an exchange with two senior SST staffers about that post. One demanding that I take down a photograph because of copyright issues and one demanding a retraction (I deal with this at the bottom of this post). However, in general I think the point I was making about hysteria and sensational reporting has been borne out.