The "Natascha Kampusch case" and the media

The spectacular case of Natascha Kampusch has caused a sensation in Austria. She was kidnapped as a ten-year-old and recently escaped after eight years in captivity. Her kidnapper committed suicide. Michael Fleischhacker is impressed that she has now written an open letter in which she says that although she can understand the public's interest she doesn't want to reveal intimate details about her life in captivity. According to Fleischhacker, the letter shows how the media should react: "What many of these self-appointed media experts with their depraved imaginations fail to see is obvious to this young woman: something very unusual happened to her, so there's an unusual amount of interest in her person and her story… In her letter, Natascha Kampusch sets limits which should be respected. She's perfectly right to say that publishing the video which showed her 'dungeon' was going too far. It was published by the investigating authorities, allowing the media to make it accessible to the general public without giving much thought to the repercussions of such an action."

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