Publishers are not cops

High praise is in order for Dick High, publisher of the North County Times, who has decided not to accept paid ads from the Oceanside Police Department that would publish the names of convicted prostitutes and their customers. It was the right decision.

Police in Oceanside announced recently that they would attempt to buy ads in local papers identifying hookers and their johns as a way to discourage people from engaging in the crime within city limits. It's a practice that has been attempted elsewhere in the country over the years.

It's hard to fault the police. Their job is to fight crime, and they consider publishing the names simply another weapon in their arsenal. But for newspapers, it's a different story.

Newspapers, particularly daily papers of record, are not crime fighters. By agreeing to run the police ads, even if they're paid for, a newspaper gives the impression that it's an arm of the police department, and that's a perception no newspaper should want.

The North County Times publisher says the reason he won't take the ads is that it's a sort of slippery slope. Aside from being “tacky,” he said the practice could usher in a wave of “negative advertising.” His logic is that it could set a precedent for anyone to buy an ad to embarrass someone else.

We can't argue with that. But we think there are better reasons not to run the ads. In addition to aligning themselves with the cops, newspapers could potentially be responsible for direct impacts that border on cruel and unusual punishment. It's an ethical dilemma worth pondering.

What if publicly embarrassing someone results in the loss of a job or the painful breakup of a family? Would the newspaper publisher consider that a punishment that fits the crime? Job loss carries with it an adverse domino economic effect. It adds another person to the list of people who are less capable of contributing to the economy and perhaps less capable of providing for a family. Family breakup sparks a long laundry list of societal ills. And how about the potential for suicide? Are we willing to have that on our conscience?

Yes, prostitution and solicitation are against the law, and they are choices freely made, but are they acts egregious enough to warrant these possible consequences? We think not.

Instead of dreaming up ways to publicly humiliate people who commit largely victimless crimes, we should be asking ourselves why we're so puritanical about prostitution.

Get ready for battle

The grocery store workers strike that's presently upon us is a signal of sorts. It's no secret that the cause of the strike is the biggest company in the country, Wal-Mart, which is orchestrating a full-frontal assault on California with its efforts to open numerous “super centers.”

The mega-big-box stores would include immense grocery components that threaten to undercut traditional supermarkets with low, low prices made possible in part by low, low worker wages and scant benefits. As reported by the L.A. Weekly, unionized grocery workers make up to $17.90 an hour, while a 2001 court discrimination case put Wal-Mart wages (which are otherwise kept secret by the company) at an average of $8.23 per hour.

The big three supermarket companies ostensibly are attempting to position themselves for battle with Wal-Mart by asking the workers to agree to concessions that, on the surface, look relatively minor. The sticking points include a modest worker contribution for health benefits, a two-tiered salary structure that would pay new workers less and a smaller company contribution to a retirement fund.

The two sides have dug in their heels, and all things point to California cities having to decide whether or not to fight the Wal-Mart onslaught. Los Angeles seems to have chosen the side of the unions and has already begun its fight, attempting to regulate Wal-Mart, which has not indicated willingness to pay prevailing wages, out of the market.

If San Diego becomes the next battleground, we hope city officials will keep the big picture in sight. We hope they won't give in to the allure of increased property and sales tax dollars and, in exchange, saddle their citizens with low-wage jobs.