As a sociological experiment, the Associated Press’ recent decision to ban stories on Paris Hilton for a week is a really interesting idea. Ethically, however, it is maybe a little suspect:
It turned out that people noticed plenty — but not in the way that might have been expected. None of the thousands of media outlets that depend on AP called in asking for a Paris Hilton story. No one felt a newsworthy event had been ignored. (To be fair, nothing too out-of-the-ordinary happened in the Hilton universe.)
The reaction was to the idea of the ban, not the effects of it. There was some internal hand-wringing. Some felt we were tinkering dangerously with the news. Whom, they asked, would we ban next? Others loved the idea. “I vote we do the same for North Korea,” one AP writer said facetiously.
A world without Paris Hilton in the news would be a much better place, I agree, but I’m not sure that the AP is the one to make that decision, much less that an outright ban is the best way to accomplish it. Better, perhaps, simply not to run un-newsworthy stories than to effect a complete and total blackout. In Paris Hilton’s case, I think the AP might find that the results are essentially the same.
Link via Neatorama.