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January 29, 2003 Can this reputation be saved? Pete Townshend The
short answer:
He freely admitted that he had done so (which should help him in the honesty department in the long run), saying that he was doing research on his own childhood abuse. Townshend has positioned himself as an avid opponent of child pornography and pedophilia caught in a misunderstanding, saying, "I am not a pedophile . . . I hope you will be able to see that I am sincerely disturbed by the sexual abuse of children, and I am very active trying to help individuals who have suffered, and to prevent further abuse." He faces up to a five year jail term for viewing child pornography on the Internet.
If the fan sites and discussion groups are any indication, most fans are willing to wait and see before passing judgment. In fact the second wave of opinions is now comparing the initial media frenzy to McCarthyism. (The AP has admitted that it falsely reported that Townsend used his credit card to download child porn.) Some sources believe that Townsend’s earlier published concern about child porn may have prompted the police investigation. So, unless
other facts emerge to convince us otherwise, we’re inclined to
think that his reputation is definitely salvageable. And if he has been
falsely condemned in the media, they have an ethical obligation to help
rebuild it. |
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For
many of us who grew up in the 60s and 70s Pete Townshend
and The Who were the intelligentcia of rock n’ roll—producing
operas for god’s sake! Their music made us think and
dance and most of us can sing along with it to this day. So it was with
considerable discomfort that we read of Townshend’s arrest under
suspicion of possessing indecent images of children and incitement to
distribute them.
But
we hesitate these days to burst into a round of “We Won’t
Get Fooled Again,” simply because we’ve been fooled so often
of late. Perhaps if so many other celebrities hadn’t gotten caught
lately and so blatantly lied (can you say “Wynona Ryder?”)
we might be more willing to give poor Pete the benefit of the doubt.
His story is certainly plausible and I for one believe that he is innocent
until proven otherwise. Particularly persuasive were the endorsements
from Sir Elton John and Roger Daltry who clearly believed in Townshend
enough to put their own reputations on the line.
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