A multisource video news service that highlights nuances in reporting from media outlets around the world.

“You’ve heard of teens texting dirty messages to their friends. Now they’re going a step further and sexting them pictures--It’s where they take nude photos of themselves with a camera phone and hit the send button.” (WLWT TV)

Hello, I’m Charlotte Bellis and you’re watching Newsy.com. That was Cincinnati, Ohio’s WLWT.

Teenagers found sexting—sending or receiving nude photos of their peers—could face what some call disproportionate punishment… labeled as sex offenders and up to life in jail.

NPR explains the criteria for a conviction can be too simple:

“All you look at is, is this a nude or semi nude or suggestive photograph—and is the person depicted in it a minor? That is enough to warrant a criminal prosecution for child pornography.” (NPR)

FOX News talked with a Florida teen charged with transmitting child pornography when he forwarded a nude picture of his girlfriend to her friends and family:

“I just think having to be a sex offender until at least the age of 43 and 5 years of probation and getting kicked out of college, and being on a list of sexual deviants for people that harm little kids. I don’t think that is fair.” (FOX News)

A legal analyst agrees, telling the network this isn’t the original intent of child pornography laws:

“Charging these kids with these crimes—I believe—and I’m, about as hard core a prosecutor as they come—is an abuse—I believe—of prosecutorial discretion. This isn’t the way to get the message across.” (FOX News)

WBZ TV out of Massachusetts brings the opposing perspective of a law enforcement officer who thinks the punishment fits the crime:

“The law is very serious—it’s pretty laid out as far as possession and dissemination of child pornography. Children under 18 can’t consent.” (WBZ TV)

Not everyone agrees. Florida’s Charlotte Sun and Weekly Herald brings us the perspective of a teenager who says sexting is his right:

"It's unfortunate that some teens must gain this type of attention from one another, but it is their right as an American… The issue of sexting may be a moral issue, but it should not be a legal issue." (Charlotte Sun)

CNN’s Headline News blames the sexting trend on several factors:

“In our pop culture, what do celebrities do? They take off their tops. So it was pop culture that was was affecting them. The third thing-- partner pressure: boys nowadays are looking at online pornography, and the girls feel that they need to compete.” (CNN Headline News)

Finally, CBS’s Katie Couric offers this warning to young girls:

“When they hit the Internet they are there to stay, and in the hands of a college admissions officer or even a future employer, they could even destroy a chance to fulfill a dream. … and there is nothing sexy about that.” -Katie Couric (CBS News)

So is sexting an alarming trend or just harmless fun? How much should schools or government interfere?