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I guess the Republic would love the New Times
BackPage
web site to be shut down because it would eliminate the completion for classified ads.
E J Montini should have mentioned that in his article.
And of course the cops would love to shut down the BackPage website to make it harder for people that engage in the victimless crime of prostitution to do their business. And of course I suspect the Republic would love it if the police shut down the New Time's BackPage web site. After all it would reduce the competition for classified ads. Of course if you want to fix the problems the best way would be to repeal all the laws against victimless crimes like prostitution, gambling and drug uses and sales. Should New Times' owners shut down Backpage.com? Is Village Voice Media, the Phoenix-based alternative news weekly chain, profitting from the adult-services ads on its Backpage.com website, including some ads that illegally peddle sex with children. Yes. On the other hand, is Village Voice Media doing more than any company with an adult website to assist police in apprehending those who might be using personal ads to prostitute children? Yes. So would it be better if the site was closed or not? Once the website Craigslist shut down its adult personals section a lot of the business went to Backpage.com, which is run by Village Voice Media. Millions are earned from the ads. A national effort to get the company to abolish the website has been launched by a group of clergy and activists, attorneys general from throughout the United States, several U.S. Senators and New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristoff. An organization called Groundswell is using what it calls an "education" campaign to pressure advertisers to quit doing business with Village Voice Media. For its part, Village Voice Media believes that if it shut down Backpage.com the sex ads, without the oversight that it provides, would simply move to other websites, including some that are offshore and out of the jurisdiction of U.S. police agencies. Their critics disagree, saying that without Backpage.com the ads themselves would decrease. Republic reporter J.J. Hensley wrote about this for Sunday's paper. See his report here. Mike Lacey and Jim Larkin, who run Village Voice Media, aren't ones to back down from a fight or bow to prressure. But in this case should they? It's one thing to believe that consenting adults should be able to make sexual arrangements with other consenting adults. It's another thing to know that some of those being peddled for sex aren't willing volunteers or adults. Critics believe that the best way to shut down Backpage.com is by pressuring advertisers to abandon Village Voice Media. It's an old tactic. But will it work? Business people tend to base their reasons for advertising or not advertising on economics rather than morality. And if a boycott did work, and Backpage closed, would the result be more of a "feel good" accomplishment than an actual solution? After all, the Internet is filled with similar sites. What would you do if you owned Backpage.com (not only from a moral point of view, but knowing that a loss of the income could really hurt your business)? What would you do if you were an advertiser? And what will you do the next time you walk by a stack of free copies of Phoenix New Times? |