Áine: Yup, that's what I meant when I said (as you quoted me saying) that the media's focus on that aspect of the news story is just another example of the milking of a story. Your example is quite obviously one of sensationalism in the media. The "On the Record" program found some guy whose point of view about the Travelers is extreme, and put him on the air so he could say something extreme.

Long before the Toogood news story broke, I'd seen several features on TV about the Travelers on the prime-time news programs (the "20/20" genre), claiming to give viewers a look inside the life of the clans. None of them painted an entirely positive or entirely negative picture. But this story has brought the negative aspects to the fore, for the time being. I'm sure that, with time, the pendulum will swing back toward center, but some pressure on the media to find some Travelers who aren't con artists or underage wives wouldn't hurt!