Discrimination against the Church?

We are still reading many articles on the Lourdes Home saga. Some were on the front page, others were opinion coloumns. We read letters of varying length and quality. We have even had many programmes on TV stations that dealt with the issues raised in this case. I recall at least three Bondi Plus editions dedicated to Lourdes Home and the abuses carried out there. All this is good and necessary. Healthy criticism is never to be turned down.

However, and this is what strikes me as a bit odd, a 56-year-old man is reported in the newspapers to have been charged with "regularly defiling a young girl", aged six. This case was reported on page 6 of The Times (April 22) in only 20 lines. My question is simple: Why the difference in coverage? Is this not a story that deserves front-page attention or an opinion column? Are we going to have the same intense TV programmes that were aired in these last months?

Or is it a question of not everybody receiving the same treatment in the press?

Editor's note: Newspaper reports of this nature, especially if a ruling has not yet been handed down, are strictly limited to the details that emerge in court or are prescribed by the sitting judge or magistrate.