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