This Just In ...
Kevin Fischer is a veteran broadcaster, the recipient of over 150 major journalism awards from the Milwaukee Press Club, the Wisconsin Associated Press, the Northwest Broadcast News Association, the Wisconsin Bar Association, and others. He has been seen and heard on Milwaukee TV and radio stations for over three decades. A longtime aide to state Senate Republicans in the Wisconsin Legislature, Kevin can be seen offering his views on the news on the public affairs program, "InterCHANGE," on Milwaukee Public Television Channel 10, and heard filling in on Newstalk 1130 WISN. He lives with his wife, Jennifer, and their lovely baby daughter, Kyla Audrey, in Franklin.
Anonymity kills: UPDATE
Regular readers of my blog know of my feelings about anonymous contributors. While some can enhance a blog with their comments, too many feel a great sense of power hiding cowardly behind a fictitious name. They slither out in the middle of the night with false bravado and talk tougher than tough. These are the same weaklings who would fold up like an accordion if forced to use their real name, occupation, and have to plaster their face on the Internet. The hateful left has a bulging membership in this club. And the Franklin community has seen its share of un-named snakes, one “unfettered” scoundrel in particular who has been caught using all sorts of aliases to spread his venom and lies. While other bloggers have shown sympathy and allow him to publish his unfounded screeds laced with hate, he knows he’s not welcome on this site, and doesn’t even try anymore. Good riddance.
Thank God the level of anonymous irresponsibility here has been isolated to mere words. In some cases, similar anonymity has had fatal ramifications.
Last December, I blogged about the case of young Megan Meier, whose story was mentioned in a column I referenced:
On October 15, 2006, 13-year-old Megan Meier received an e-mail from Josh Evans, a “cute” homeschooled 16-year-old she had met and befriended on MySpace. "I don't know if I want to be friends with you any longer because I hear you're not nice to your friends," Evans wrote in the e-mail. Josh Evans was not real. His profile was the invention of a neighborhood mother, Lori Drew, whose daughter had once been friends with Meier. Drew had originally devised Josh Evans in order to monitor what Meier was saying about her own daughter; eventually the Evans profile became a way of harassing Meier. On October 16, 2003, Meier hanged herself in her closet in St. Charles County, Missouri.
Meier’s death, caused by the actions of individuals possessing sick minds, was not in vain. Missouri recently enacted a new law to prevent similar tragedies. I hope the new law isn’t misapplied and truly does go after credible threats.
Anonymous people on the Internet aren’t all bad. But far too many are slime, and they need to be stopped.
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