This story went out to 800-plus media outlets this week and yet only a slim handful expressed interest. Cynicism on behalf of the media or does this happen more than we know?
AMERICANS WILL HAPPILY HELP JOURNALISTS VIOLATE ETHICS
LOS ANGELES (Wireless Flash) -- Americans not only believe in freedom of the press, but many are happily willing to help the media fake sources for a story.
That's what journalist Rodger Jacobs discovered when he pulled a media prank by placing a
classified ad on craigslist.org, explaining he was a reporter who fudged a story about buying
fake I.D.s and needed someone willing to "pretend to be Paco," a phony street source quoted in
the story.
Jacobs posted the ad on Saturday (Jun. 26) and he received more than 35 inquiries before it was
taken down on Sunday night. Some of the potential Pacos include one voiceover actor who
touted his radio commercials for Papa John's pizza and another who claimed he actually sold fake I.D.s for a living.
The plug on the prank was pulled Sunday night (Jun. 27),when a reporter contacted Jacobs about
the ad. As he puts it, "She had faith no real journalist would actually do this." That might sound
like good news to some, but Jacobs is still "disappointed" that so many regular citizens had "no
qualms about helping a journalist violate their ethics."
CONTACT: Rodger Jacobs, ****; rdjacobs@concentric.net
8763wonderland.crimsonzine.com
Original: Americans Will Heppily Help Journalists Violate Ethics