SJ Longthorne

I doubt most publishers would accept that kind of shady material anyway. The above would push those authors to self-publish, which puts the odds massively against the author, making it unlikely it will reach its audience in the first place.

But it's not really a new notion anyway. Whether intentionally or not, YA already does the job of which I'm speaking. And so far, I can't recall having seen anything malicious come to light -- at least in the public eye.

And on the off-chance that stuff IS making it through, we should have good stuff there to counter it.

Fiction by its nature teaches us about our world and helps shape our views. YA fiction would be doing the same for more malleable minds regardless of our intentions simply by existing.

I truly and wholly hope your optimism about publishers principles is justified. I don't know any better, so I'll have to contend myself with your opinion. I would be disappointed if it were otherwise, but I've been surprised by the lack of oversight and morale in other places...

I mean, I worked for a seriously shady publisher and even they wouldn't have published anything malicious, simply because it would be bad for PR. They would have to risk their reputation and then their whole business...and for what? Very little.

But we can still push for legislation (if it doesn't already exist) if we're in any doubt :)

Yea, that's kind of the thing with business, PR and bottom line. As long as it isn't feasible, they'll stick to reason. Well, unless you're working for a tabloid or other yellow press type stuff. Which is a direction (maybe) publishers with financial interests might consider.