The Cincinnati Beacon
The Enquirer: Use Armless and Legless Boy To Promote Web Traffic!
Sunday, February 04, 2007
Posted by The Dean of Cincinnati
The Enquirer has reached a new low today, using a legless and armless high school student to drive traffic to their online blog network as a way to increase revenue. See for yourself. Today’s paper includes this fluff piece about Dustin Carter—another in a long series of “human-interest” stories capitalizing on this kid’s physical disability to sell advertisements.
The latest is just one in a long series of articles about Dustin Carter—all written as uplifting feel-good stories. Here is a partial history of The Enquirer writing about this kid:
*Wrestler’s story inspires hope, invitations (Feb. 14, 2006)
*If you think he’s different, you don’t know Dustin (Feb. 12, 2006)
*All Heart (Feb. 12, 2006)
*Good sports: Wrestler driven by determination (Feb. 29, 2004)
For whatever reason, The Enquirer loves writing about Dustin Carter in February, but last year they got all kinds of ink and positive responses. So they have tried it again, correlating their latest fluff piece with the Dustin Carter blog.
If the first post is any indication, the Dustin Carter blog won’t last long:
Just a normal Saturday
I’m about to eat and head over to watch the junior high wrestle their league meet. Maybe coach ‘em a little...show ‘em some new things and eat some more in the hospitality room. The biggest mistake the athletic directer made was to let a bunch of wrestlers in a room full of food. Then after the tournament is finished we have practice. So that’s what my day is going to be like.
I think the “interest” readers believe they are taking in this kid’s life will disappear after a few encounters with reality. Dustin Carter is just a high school kid, who happens to have no arms or legs. His blog will not be the kind of feel-good propaganda written by The Enquirer staff, so the illusion will get broken and interest will fade. But in the process, they will sell some online advertising clicks, and maybe a few surfers will find other Enquirer blogs for the first time.
There is nothing wrong, on the one hand, with stories like this—if they are designed to show how people with disabilities can be capable and normal members of society. But I don’t think that’s the point. The Enquirer saw a marketing opportunity in the response they got to initial Dustin Carter coverage, so they keep going back. If the former was their intent, why not interview other people? Show other stories of success? Dustin Carter is not the only person fighting against the odds in our region.
I’d love to get a hold of Dustin Carter myself, to see how he would respond to my theory of how he is being used by The Enquirer. But then again, maybe he already knows. Maybe the paycheck makes it worthwhile. But if this kid is blogging for free, he is being abused in the worst way.
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