tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1595275242041847492.post-39224927032565508472008-03-21T19:10:00.000-07:002008-03-22T19:06:52.293-07:00<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://www.sexpros.net/uploaded_images/Diane-Sawyer-726092.htm"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="http://www.sexpros.net/uploaded_images/Diane-Sawyer-726088.htm" border="0" alt="" /></a><br />To think I once had respect for her! Never have I seen a more pathetic, shoddy piece of journalism than tonight's 20/20, which I forced myself to watch even though it was akin to sticking a hypodermic needle in my eye. And no, I am not a drug addict!<br /><br /><br />Why just today I was writing a piece for Sex-Kitten on how it was so important for us sex workers to create our own media and Sawyer's "expose" on prostitution in the US really proved it. Once again, the media's desire to focus only on drug-addicted, desperate sex workers proved how biased and just plain uninformed they are. Sawyer found every marginalized, down and out sex worker and got her to spill her sob story about how she'd been abused in the past and of course, had a drug problem to support. The only intelligent, proud sex worker speaks in secrecy and Sawyer announces "we have no way to corroborate her story." Sawyer said she doesn't believe the woman wasn't abused as a child or was "suffering inside." The woman stated she was not, but Sawyer was skeptical yet she had no problem believing all the drug addicts that she interviewed.<br /><br />"Do they dream of a Hollywood ending...like Pretty Woman?"<br /><br />Oh god, excuse me while I throw a brick through my television...<br /><br />As exploited as these sex workers may feel, they've never been exploited more than how they were on 20/20 tonight. Some of these women interviewed with Sawyer over 2 years and have moved on with their lives, so I'm sure seeing their sob stories re-hashed on national television has done nothing positive for their situations. If anybody should be ashamed of herself after this shoddy miscarriage of journalism, it should be Diane. She doesn't realize that not everyone is a victim and that not everyone in the sex trade is being coerced against their will. It's too bad a respected journalist made a two hour special on one topic and didn't even do her homework.<br /><br />But once again, this reinforces my belief that sex worker made media is one of the few ways to fight this. I've been working hard on the podcasts and videos I've made with my sisters in <a href="http://www.swop-chicago.org">SWOP-Chicago</a> and we now have our very own media website, <a href="http://www.redlightdistrictchicago.com">RedLightDistrictChicago.com.</a><br /><br />Our motto-"Sex Workers Making Media, so the Media Doesn't Make Us."Serpentlibertinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15994464113971354381noreply@blogger.com