NEWS RELEASE from MORALITY IN MEDIA, Inc.
NEW YORK (September 7, 2007) – Robert Peters, President of Morality in Media, had the following comments in response to a full-page Jordache advertisement that ran in the NY Post on August 31, depicting a topless woman viewing herself in a mirror, and a front-page story in the Poston August 29, depicting a large photograph of Leona Helmsley holding her dog, with the following large caption: “RICH BITCH: No, not Leona – her dog just inherited $12 M.” Earlier in August the Postpublished a half-page depiction of a topless woman two days in a row.
“I realize that I am in all likelihood wasting my time attempting to get the NY Postto do the decent thing, but I hate to remain silent while a once great and still needed New York City daily newspaper goes to the dogs, or perhaps more accurately, to the kangaroos.
“Having been reading the City’s daily newspapers for almost 30 years, I realize that in the rough and tumble ‘tabloid’ newspaper business things can and do at times get a bit raw, over the top, nasty, mean, cruel, bigoted, invasive, exploitive, libelous, lurid, trashy,vulgar and then some.
“But over the years I have come to have a measure of respect for both the Postand the NY Daily News because they do a pretty good job of keeping their readers informed about the important news of the day, without pushing the “tabloid” envelope too far too often.
“It would appear, however, that the Post’seditor-in-chief is now in the process of pushing that envelope much further with the intention or effect of transforming that paper into an R-rated rag. The likely explanation is a declining or stagnant circulation and a shortage of reputable advertisers.
“Who knows what’s next, but those who continue to read the paper shouldn’t be surprised if someday they are reading headlines like, ‘Headless Ass Marries Two-Headed Kangaroo in Queensland Church: Newlyweds promise to name first-born after editor-in-chief of NY Post.’
“I should add that I am aware that when the ‘B-word’ is used to describe a dog, it isn’t considered an obscenity. But as used in last week’s Postheadline, the ‘B-word’ wasn’t referring just to the dog.”
Author: Morality in Media 09/07/2007