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[So this is what "media research" means.--DC]

http://tinyurl.com/2b7ef2
ABC News Pimping for Ratings
by Robert H. Knight and Brian Fitzpatrick
Posted: 01/28/2008

For insight on Nevada presidential politics, most national journalists
might turn to political science profs at UNLV or perhaps some local
ink-stained wretches. Not ABC World News Saturday. They sent their
fearless camera crews into a whorehouse.

In a “news” story that aired around 7 p.m. on January 19 called “Pimping
for Paul,” Reporter David Wright dropped in on the Bunny Ranch, a legal
whorehouse in Carson City, Nevada, to cover the political activism of
the brothel owner and assorted prostitutes.

Here’s what unfolded:

In a husky voice, Wright relates that owner Dennis Hof told him, “my
girls are pimping for Paul.” That would be Ron Paul, the libertarian
Republican congressman from Texas who is running for president.

With a bevy of scantily clad women lounging on plush red sofas in the
background, Hof declares that, “Nevada is a very conservative state, but
we also believe in ‘live and let live.’ Don't bother anybody, we won't
bother you. And that’s what Ron Paul stands for and I like that.” There
was no comment from the Paul campaign as to whether they are endorsing
Mr. Hof’s efforts or have any plans to appoint him to anything if Paul wins.

Let’s go further into the Bunny Ranch with the ABC crowd. A charming
blonde named “Air Force Amy” leads a laughing Wright into the bedroom
where she says she “pimps for Paul.” Barely contained by a spangled red
“dress,” the giggling Amy tells Wright, “It’s very easy to ask for
campaign contributions here. A lot easier, too, when I take my clothes
off.” More giggles. Amy claims she has snagged up to $1,000 this way
for her candidate.

Attention, political scientists and political reporters! ABC has given
you a whole new field to study! Expect more scrutiny of your expense
accounts, however.

Back to the ranch. Wright ventures into another bedroom to interview
Amy’s colleague, Brooke Taylor. Wearing a purple dress resembling a
teddy, the waiflike Taylor sits on a bed next to Wright and expounds on
the Euro and Ron Paul’s health plan.

The segment ends. Viewers are left pondering this question: How were
Americans able to make political decisions before ABC began bringing us
this kind of political uncoverage?

Mr. Knight is director of the Culture & Media Institute, a division of
the Media Research Center that examines how media bias undermines faith
and traditional American values. Knight, a former Los Angeles Times news
editor and writer, has held fellowships at the Hoover Institution and
Heritage Foundation and founded the Culture & Family Institute at
Concerned Women for America and the Family Research Council's Cultural
Studies Department.

Mr. Fitzpatrick is senior editor at the Media Research Center's Culture
& Media Institute in Alexandria, Va.

--
Dan Clore

My collected fiction: _The Unspeakable and Others_
http://tinyurl.com/3akhhr
Lord We˙rdgliffe & Necronomicon Page:
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News & Views for Anarchists & Activists:
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Skipper: Professor, will you tell these people who is
in charge on this island?
Professor: Why, no one.
Skipper: No one?
Thurston Howell III: No one? Good heavens, this is anarchy!
-- _Gilligan's Island_, episode #6, "President Gilligan"