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Censored!By Jules Siegel Gordon was so happy with this story -- the first, he said, ever to take his work seriously -- that he wanted to put out a press release. Oops. It was rejected by PRWeb.com because of a link to an ADULT image! Can you believe that, folks? So you prudes out there better stop right here because the offending picture is on the front page of Book@rts. The Sun has nothing on us. Umm. Well, I decided that discretion is the better part of valor. These Anti-Sex League non-judicial activists can get real nasty. Andrea Dworkin is gone (may she rest in peace) but Catherine MacKinnon is still alive to continue the struggle against Internet fleshpots like Book@rts. Trembling fearfully, I put a big CENSORED on the offending picture(s), but you can click through and see what the American Interfaith Non-Violent (I hope) Taliban Movement considers too shocking for your sensitive eyes. Following is the letter that I wrote about this outrage to David A. McInnis, Chief Executive Officer of PRWeb.com: April 22, 2005 David A. McInnis Dear Mr. MacInnis: I am an author and graphic designer whose work has appeared over the years in Playboy, Best American Short Stories, Library of America´s Writing Los Angeles, and many other publications. I occasionally contribute to the San Francisco Chronicle, and I administer newsroom-l, one of the Internet´s principal email discussion lists for journalists. I recently published a retrospective review of the work of Gordon Inkeles, author of The Art of Sensual Massage and several other exquisitely beautiful and tasteful works on the art of massage. His books have been selections of the Book-of-the-Month Club and the Quality Book Club and are carried in bookstores all over the world, with sales to date of more than two million copies. Gordon was so pleased by the review -- the first in his career to give him serious attention, he said -- that he mentioned it in a press release he posted on PRWeb, contributing $140 to make sure that it received the full benefit of your services. This morning he was informed by someone who identified himself as "Alex" that the press release was disqualified because of an "adult link." This turned out to be the photograph above from one of Gordon´s books. I have no problems with tagging the link "adult" in the press release, but I think that killing it is insulting and low-minded, even more so in the context of my online publication. Please go to http://www.cafecancun.com/bookarts/ to see what I'm talking about. Rather than remove the link, Gordon asked for a refund, which was promptly forthcoming. I think this incident is a very sad but equally meaningful sign of the times. I plan to bring it to the attention of the press by all the means at my command. Before I do that, I´d like to hear what you think. You can reply to me at siegel@cafecancun.com. I eagerly await your response. Sincerely,
Jules Siegel |
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