The Streisand Effect in Action

 
I mentioned the Streisand Effect a few days ago. Here's a perfect example of how it works.

ThePolitic.cmo is one of those Canadian blogs written by someone (Matthew) who embarrasses my country. Matthew writes,

It’s no secret that many of us liberty and/or family-minded folks are great fans of The National Post which officially only competes with the Globe and Mail but realistically also occupies reality that the Toronto Star and Toronto Sun covet. I personally began subscribing to the Post after graduation not because it had a host of right-wing commentators (the Toronto Sun can also claim this), but because the paper took the mission of presenting all view points seriously by often welcoming guest columnists who would attack its editorials, or by presenting series like the one they did two weeks ago on abortion, where a dozen commentators would weigh in on the issue with intelligent, but different viewpoints.

This led me to great sadness today when I went onto their website to read the digital version of the paper. The front cover was just a large cartoon title that said “The Love & Sex Issue” which is tastefully questionable in itself for a national newspaper, but if you look at the picture itself, it also contains the drawing of two nude people behind the “x” which those of us familiar with Japanese pop-culture would classify as hentai. Half of the main section contained articles which were more at home in a Penthouse issue and the Post’s website contains video content that I dare not look at but is clearly part of the above-mentioned theme.

I have since called the Post’s office and dealt with a nice young chap who will be passing along my complaints (the Post is good at responding to these), but in the mean time, I invite everyone else who is disturbed by this extremely poor lack in judgment to write or phone to the Post’s editorial staff:

For more information about the Love & Sex issue go to the National Post website [Love & Sex Issue].

Warning: There may be sexy hentai cartoons there and you will certainly find some discussions about another H-word. Don't go there if you're in kindergarten or you're a prude. Don't go there if, like Matthew, you dare not look at pictures of nude bodies.

Mathew should just be thankful that this topic wasn't covered in one of the left-wing newspapers like the Toronto Star. He probably would have had to leave the country for a few days to avoid the newspaper boxes.

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[Hat Tip: Canadian Cynic]