Leave the Kids Out of It

The AP story about Rudy Giuliani's daughter's Facebook page really disappointed me. Here's a bit of the story:

On her Facebook profile, 17-year-old Caroline Giuliani listed herself as a member of Obama's Facebook group, "Barack Obama (One Million Strong for Barack)." She left the group Monday morning after the online magazine Slate sent an inquiry and later in the day, a spokeswoman said she did not intend to comment on the 2008 race.

[snip]

Her profile can be viewed by Facebook users who have access to New York City's Trinity School or Harvard University networks. Caroline, who is Giuliani's daughter with his second wife, Donna Hanover, recently graduated from Trinity and will attend Harvard in the fall.

So a reporter looking for a story decided to target a minor's Facebook profile. Nice. This sort of gotcha political reporting is a big chunk of the media's responsibility in politics as usual and the politics of personal destruction. The kids, especially the minors, should be left alone.