LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Subject: Gross Irresponsibility and Misinformation

Hello,

“Counselor accused of Internet porn”

Please give me a moment of your time.

How could you let this headline run?

I am one of the partners of the largest and first Adult Internet Portal known, at YNOTMasters.com.LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Subject: Gross Irresponsibility and Misinformation

Hello,

“Counselor accused of Internet porn”

Please give me a moment of your time.

How could you let this headline run?

I am one of the partners of the largest and first Adult Internet Portal known, at YNOTMasters.com. We are located in downtown San Diego. We strive every day to be the most honest and legitimate Adult Internet portal on the Net. We have been trendsetters in the fight against child pornography and despise everything about it. I, personally, have been involved with several charities which has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to fight against child abuse.

We run our company, as do most Adult Internet companies, under the same federal and state laws as anyone else. The primary members of this business are NOT the back alley child rapists and molesters. We are fathers, sons, wives and daughters. Some of the most honest and legitimate people I know are members of the Adult Internet business. I urge you to look at our site YNOTMasters.com. You will be impressed with how intelligent the articles are, how professional the site is, and how many members we have registered in our listings.

What I deeply regret is the misinformation and gross negligence mainstream media is propagating around the world.

This article today titled “Counselor accused of Internet porn” is just one example of how you make us all look like the evil people we are not. The constant reference mainstream media makes to “Internet Porn” as being “Child Porn” is flat out wrong. “Internet Porn” does NOT mean “Child Porn” as all you know. But you, the media, is feeding America the term to both mean the same thing. This, to me, is a prevalent example of gross neglect and irresponsibility you being journalists carry out every day.

It is no wonder that old man in Missouri, or that woman in Idaho all think Internet Porn is evil. They have been socialized by the media (and yes even CNN, and MSNBC have been guilty of this) to think that Internet Porn is Child Pornography. These quite possibly are the same people who would look at naked pics in Playboy but go on the Internet?? No Way!!

I wake up this morning and I read the headlines in my San Diego Union-Tribune… “Counselor accused of Internet Porn”

“Holy Cow” I thought. Some guy got busted at work for looking at porn. I wonder what pay site he was looking at?

Nope!! The freaking bastard has been molesting girls and then used the Internet to distribute the pictures.

WHOA!! This guy is not accused of Internet Porn then!! He is accused of Child Molestation, and the Distribution of Child Pornography! NOT INTERNET PORN!!

Do you see what I am saying? If this freak had distributed the pictures by US Mail, then would he be accused of Mail Porn?

Can you please educate these two writers of the article? Please let them know that Internet Porn is NOT child Porn! A better story, which may shock the world is how our industry is made up of every day people. Most of which are some of the best people around.

Thank you for your time.

Bob Rice
“YNOTBob”
Vice President Webmaster Sales
YNOTMasters.com
bob@YNOTMasters.com

[Editor’s Note: The Copy desk chief for the San Diego Union-Tribune, Mike Sappington, did respond to Bob’s email, but he couldn’t be reached for comment or republishing approval at the time of publication of this YNOTNews issue, so YNOTNews cannot reprint his email response here, due to copyright infringement. However, we can state that while the editor personally felt that Bob’s points above were well made, he did also suggest that child porn on the Internet could still be considered as porn on the Internet, and therefore can legitimately be called “Internet Porn.”]

Hi Mike,

Thank you for getting back with me. I greatly appreciate your time. I can understand your point, but I think that you are missing the bigger picture here. No offense intended. Please allow me a couple more minutes of your busy day.

The Adult Internet is a fairly new Industry. It has been in existence for only a few short years. Societal terms and phrases describing this Industry are still in development. Mainstream America’s opinion of the Adult Internet is still very cloudy, very ignorant, and if anything, tainted by misinterpretations. A large vehicle for these new terms, to be developed and presented to Mainstream America, is the Press.

You are a substantial member of the Press. I hope that you can start to see my point. In order for our Industry to change, for the better, in the eyes of America, we need people like you to understand our work, our passion, and our livelihood. We basically need you to understand, so influential people like yourself can set the record straight.

Why, you ask, should you even care or bother? I do not even know your position on the Adult Internet. I feel this is not relevant though, whether you are a staunch conservative Right-Wing Republican, or whether you are a more liberal Democrat. From what I hear, journalists are very passionate about their profession and seek to offer the best, most accurate, and honest report. You are first and foremost a journalist. You are bound by your profession to seek the truth in reporting and honesty in representation. I doubt you were able to reach the position you have without striving to reach the pinnacles of truthfulness. Otherwise you are basically without justification and thus have no credibility. Credibility — which is everything to a journalist.

In your statement, “Porn, when it’s on the Internet, regardless of the constitutional protections for others who don’t want to be automatically linked with child porn, is still ‘Internet porn.’ In other words, Internet child porn is still ‘Internet porn.'”

Let me ask you a question Mike. Are all Muslims, terrorists? Are all terrorists, Muslims? While all squares are rectangles, not all rectangles are squares, Mike. To simply lump “child pornographers” in with “Internet porn” is horribly near-sighted and terribly misstated. I can understand you thinking Internet Child Porn being a PART of Internet Porn, but it is not Internet Porn. To state it as such is irresponsible and somewhat lazy. Adult Webmasters, as law-abiding citizens fight hard against, and fight hard in support of eradication of child pornography! I do see your reasoning on why you think it could be called Internet Porn. You have a responsibility to disassociate the two.

Two things here need to be cleared up and hopefully understood by people in positions such as yours. One, by being the vehicle for information to the world, and by stating that Internet Porn is the same as Internet Child Porn, you are subconsciously feeding America a negative image. Every time an average citizen hears the word Internet Porn, they are now going to associate it with Child Pornography. Much the same way, unfortunate as it may be, after the bombings of September 11th, many Muslims were faced with a negative image. You are smart enough to realize this.

Two, my initial complaint to your newspaper was not that the author said the counselor was charged with “Internet Child Pornography”, it was the headline stating he is charged with “Internet Porn”. He was not charged with Internet Porn. There is no such thing as being charged with Internet Porn. Internet Porn is not illegal. He was charged with Internet Child Pornography. And if you ask me the word Internet is totally irrelevant here. But that is another story line. (Does it really matter if he molested these young girls and sent out the pictures via Internet or via US Mail??? Nope! He is still a monster!) And how come there have never, in my recent memory, ever been a headline “Man charged with US Mail Porn?” There must have been this before the Internet??

But to the average citizen of San Diego who read that article, they now think that Internet Porn is synonymous with Child Pornography because of your writer’s uneducated misuse of the words.

I have noticed that the follow-up stories to this case have been improved. The second headline read “2 local men face charges in child porn investigation”. The third headline read, “2 men charged with child pornography, molestation.” So I need to give kudos to Onell R. Soto, who wrote all three articles, for hopefully learning from my first email, and now giving a small part of America the truth.

This is just the start. My only goal here was to possibly open your eyes and educate you a little bit on the negative stigma Adult Webmasters carry with them each day. I think a good story for your paper would be about how Adult Webmasters are some of the best citizens on the planet. How we fight hard against the detritus of our Industry. About how, even just today, there was an online auction in hope of raising money for an Adult Webmistress’ children, who lost their Mother in an unfortunate accident. About how Adult Webmasters come together EVERY time there is an important issue which needs to be addressed and supported. Do you know Adult Webmasters donated over $450,000 to the September 11th fund? Over $200,000 in just ONE auction for Webmasters Against Child Abuse? Every year there are hundreds of children receiving toys from an anonymous adopted Webmaster. You NEVER hear about this.

It is time that Mainstream Press start delivering the right message. And the right message is that Child Pornography is in NO WAY, the Adult Internet. If anything, we work harder than almost any other Industry to eradicate this horrible crime. Hopefully this small step I have taken out of my busy week to talk to you will make a difference. If just one dark lid of misrepresentation is lifted from just one article in the future, then I will be happy. And it appears as though it has started with your newspaper. I thank you for that, and congratulate you on staying true to your profession!!

Thank you for your time.

Bob Rice
“YNOTBob”
Vice President Webmaster Sales
YNOTMasters.com
bob@YNOTMasters.com