What is up with the media pitying the pornography industry?
On July 15, CNBC aired a special highlighting the industry’s financial woes. Then the Los Angeles Times did the same Aug. 10, in the article: “Tough Times in the Porn Industry.” Ben Fritz's article described the same economic problems the industry is facing, a weak economy, online porn and piracy, but failed to include any industry critics or point out negative aspects of porn.
Instead, Fritz focused on a porn actress who is struggling financially. He said Savannah Stern used to earn $150,000 a year, but now only makes a $50,000. Stern used to drive a Mercedes, but Fritz wrote, “She’s replacing it with a used Chevy Trailblazer-from her parents.”
Stern lamented that, “The opportunities in this industry really are disappearing. It’s extremely stressful.”
And she is not alone. Stern said that at a recent job, she had five other women say that they too were not working as often. The work has decreased so much that, “many performers have also changed their minds about what they are willing to do onscreen. Previously, women earned hefty bonuses for unusual sex scenes. That’s often no longer the case.”
Critics of pornography, like Michael Leahy whose marriage was destroyed by his addiction, would probably argue the less porn the better. A 2007 CMI study found that pornography industry supports, “a legal and media culture that is hostile to traditional values and is transfixed on atomistic individualism at the expense of families, communities and ultimately nations.”
But those points weren’t mentioned by Fritz, who examined the causes of the industry’s woes. The internet piracy is one problem. But even though piracy affects other industries, like the music industry, Fritz said that the porn industry’s “problems appear to be more severe.”
Porn is easy to access on sites like YouTube and Fritz acknowledged that, “At least five of the 100 top websites in the U.S. are portals for free pornography … The porn sites are even bigger than Pirate Bay, the top portal for illegal downloads of movies, TV shows and music.” It is also easy for children and teens to access porn online, something else Fritz ignored.
Fritz pointed out the drop in attendance of the Adult Entertainment Expo and pay-per-view programming. As for Stern, she is “adjusting to reality,” including “shooting her own subscription website and planning a tour of exotic dance clubs.”
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
“The opportunities in
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 16:17 ET by mattm“The opportunities in this industry really are disappearing. It’s extremely stressful.”
Boo hoo.
Boo Hoo
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 21:17 ET by jdlybrandI know... it's really f**king sad, ain't it?
"What a revoltin' development this is!"
Chester Riley
cry me a river
Tue, 08/11/2009 - 04:20 ET by m1xramCry Me a River, LOL
He has already failed... his country.
Of course the media
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 16:20 ET by jessieHOf course the media has pity on the porn industry. That's the only way they can find a date. Congress hasn't earned any respect.
world smallest violin
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 16:22 ET by JeffC...I guess I should feel bad about someone's loss of income, but it just isn't happening.
I guess the lure of easy money in porn isn't there anymore. I wonder how much of her good-year money Ms. Stern saved for the not-so-good-years, like when her implants need to be replaced with new ones.
LAT's pushing a bit of gov't stimulus for porn industry, perhaps
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 16:26 ET by Gary HallLAT's pushing a bit of gov't "stimulus" for porn industry, perhaps?
Tongue 'n cheek angle intended -- not that the young porn star would need any assistance with that.
(;~/ gary
in bed rather than embed?
Tue, 08/11/2009 - 04:31 ET by m1xramSo, you're saying the government shouldn't get in bed with the porn industry? Aren't some of them already? lol
He has already failed... his country.
i know, obama could hire
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 16:27 ET by powhitemalei know, obama could hire her to swallow everything he's trying to shove down our throats! "there is nothing wrong with being a white, conservative, man!" - powhitemale
Idea?
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 16:31 ET by BKeyserI am of aware of a former president that is apparently available to rescue Ms. Stern and her five female friends...
SEND BILL CLINTON!!!
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 16:49 ET by Airforce_5_OIf anybody can get these girls back to work it is Bill. He will have them back on their knees in no time!
Liberalism: The huanting feeling that someone, somewhere, can help themselves.
Af... ROFL! Needed a
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 16:53 ET by bigtimerAf...
ROFL!
Needed a spew alert warning...I'm still laughing.
Obama's a Community Agitator, a walking, talking destroyer. ~ Rush Limbaugh
spew
Tue, 08/11/2009 - 04:33 ET by m1xramGot that right!
He has already failed... his country.
They need Dan Rather as a spokesman
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 16:52 ET by MaratI suppose they are running out of scripts. I think they are too big to fail and need a massive stimulating bailout.
Oh give me a break
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 16:58 ET by Durden"Critics of pornography, like Michael Leahy whose marriage was destroyed
by his addiction, would probably argue the less porn the better"
How does one become "addicted" to porn? If this guy wasn't talking about how bad porn was the author here would be laughing at the idea of "porn addiction."
Forget mere bonuses for unusual sex scenes, Sav.
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 17:15 ET by SickofLibsHead on over to MSNBC - that whole network is based on unusual sex scenes... you'll probably get offered a nightly show.
Tune into Countdown or Hardballs tonight and you'll see what I mean. Don't forget the KY.
if they were making 150K a year
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 17:17 ET by UndercoverConservativebut don't have money now, the problem isn't the economy-it's being shortsighted and stupid. Could have put something in the bank, even if it was only one year of that income, or paid off the fancy car. It would get better mileage than the "used" Blazer.
But the types of people who can't understand paying off cars or saving for hard times, are the ones who government likes these days.
I have no sympathy for anyone who makes over $100K for any length of time and still doesn't own anything but debt.
WWW.GS2AC.COM. 2nd Amendment Grass Roots Action in the Bay Area, CA. We're not all "Breakfast Cereal" folks here! :)
This Cinfirms What I've Heard
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 17:54 ET by JustAlThe business in porn sucks.
You could also argue that
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 18:27 ET by TheBigBYou could also argue that things in the porn business have gone soft lately.
Who will lead the Republicans to victory in 2010 and 2012? Why, Barack Obama, of course!
my career coach
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 18:56 ET by BKeyserwould advise that I "let it all hang out", "take it all in", and to "not be afraid to get my feet wet." I'm not sure how that advice would work in this situation, however.
(I don't really have a career coach, I made that up)
She could probably earn
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 18:46 ET by ckc1227She could probably earn more by becoming a prostitute in NV. Or maybe she could go to college and get an education. She's only 23.
Ahem
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 18:56 ET by david999Pay-per-view programming is too expensive. Time Warner charges $12.99...... maybe if they lowered the price.......
It's just an interesting
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 19:04 ET by balboaIt's just an interesting article on the troubled economy from a different perspective. I don't think anyone's actually taking pity on the porn industry.
As a lawyer, it never made
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 19:18 ET by mostlymoderateAs a lawyer, it never made sense to me how prostitution could be illegal yet these scum bags making porn could get away with paying people to have sex on screen.
If I film my sex with a prostitute would that make it legal?
"If I film my sex with a prostitute would that make it legal?"
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 21:51 ET by shawn228"If I film my sex with a prostitute would that make it legal? "
probably not, but if they decided to legalize prostitution......
"I swear sometimes the self-appointed moral police are as obnoxious and demanding of big government interference as "environmentalist" gun control advocates, labor unions and trial lawyers"~fitzfong
Quick shawn move to Road Island..
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 22:15 ET by upcountrywaterNot a victinless crime
Tiny Rhode Island
prides itself on its history and charm. But since it decriminalized
prostitution in 1980, it has become a haven for something decidedly
uncharming: the trafficking of girls and young women into the
commercial sex industry. There is a lesson in this for the nation.
Last month, a missing 16-year-old girl from Boston was found bleeding and incoherent in an apartment in South Providence. She was being held captive by an escaped convict who had her stripping in one of Providence’s many sex clubs.
In April, the so-called Craigslist killer allegedly assaulted a prostitute in a Warwick hotel. A federal investigation has linked some of Rhode Island’s “Asian spa” brothels to organized crime rings.
I find it quite insteresting that when the squishy bureaucrats, allow something, the cutting edge deviants take it a step lower and further.
Reagan VS Liberalism
well upcountrywater.
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 23:12 ET by shawn228Nobody ever said anything about allowing minors into the sex trade, also I believe in punishing pimps and violence towards women in general to the fullest extent to the law.
Thousands of prostitution transactons go smoothly all the time, your just deciding to focus on the Craigslist killer, Perhaps the Asian Spa brothels would not be controlled by organized crime rings if it was legal.
"I swear sometimes the self-appointed moral police are as obnoxious and demanding of big government interference as "environmentalist" gun control advocates, labor unions and trial lawyers"~fitzfong
shawn that was the WHOLE point of posting that article
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 23:23 ET by upcountrywaterIt's legal in Rhode Island, since 1980's even so the mobs still get in there and do their thing..moving into younger and younger girls.
Decriminalizing prostitution sounds good in theory to
some people of good will. It appeals to certain libertarians who
imagine that without legal prohibitions, women will make “free choices”
to sell themselves or not, just as they please. But the experience of Rhode Island exposes this as a tragic fantasy.
Reagan VS Liberalism
I can see your point UCW
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 23:52 ET by shawn228......but your only pointing out that bad things as oppossed to the good things, much like gun control advocates.
If penalties are enforced on this POS that prey on these young girls, perhaps they will be more afraid of doing so, and there are many stories of mobs moving in on younger girls in States that prostitution is illegal as well
"I swear sometimes the self-appointed moral police are as obnoxious and demanding of big government interference as "environmentalist" gun control advocates, labor unions and trial lawyers"~fitzfong
Next . . . a government
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 21:19 ET by Free StinkerNext . . . a government bailout for the Porn Industry.
Unreal.
Yes siree a package stimulus proposition
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 22:22 ET by upcountrywaterThe big O could get behind it, and right on it.
Bill Clinton
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 23:07 ET by Free StinkerI heard Bill Clinton wants to be the Czar of Porn Stimulus. He offered to do it for free.
Porn's a hard business "pun intended"
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 21:48 ET by shawn228The porn business does not deserve a bailout, but the internet has effected revenues for their industry. The top stars that used to easily earn 6 figures are not making that anymore. They don't deserve a bailout, but at the same time it is pretty sad.
"I swear sometimes the self-appointed moral police are as obnoxious and demanding of big government interference as "environmentalist" gun control advocates, labor unions and trial lawyers"~fitzfong
Okay, I am stayin' the hell away from this thread
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 21:53 ET by R D Helm'Nuff said.
-Dave
If it's CommieCare you want, then move to Cuba.
~Awwww......
Mon, 08/10/2009 - 22:27 ET by choselife3xIt's been so long since we had the comic relief of a porn thread.
Dissent: It's not just for liberals anymore.-kudzupolitics, USA Today
Web Access
Tue, 08/11/2009 - 10:34 ET by btjunk00Anyone with enough patience can gain access to the paid, "premium" porn websites. Just ask any teenage boy to search for a site and a working password; probably take 15 minutes to get 5 of them.
The point being that internet piracy of porn sites is so rampant it's surprising it took this long for the, ahem, industry to show signs of loss.
Porn n the economy
Tue, 08/11/2009 - 11:09 ET by Timothy HAs much as I hate to say this, this IS, sympathetic or not, a story. Porn is one of the largest industries in the country, like it or not. Any other industry that saw so much cash flow would get attention from an economic downturn, especially considering that it's a vice-business, which usually wouldn't suffer from minor economic trends. The fact that even porn is getting hit hard is a huge story, and like it or not, porn is a legal industry whose $10B annual revenue effects the economy. The sympathetic slant might be a bit much, but then again, this downturn is effecting lives.
And, for the record, I am not an advocate for porn. I personally find it as damaging as alcohol (which is also legal) to families.
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe. - Albert Einstein
additionally....
Tue, 08/11/2009 - 11:11 ET by Timothy HIt says something about how bad the economy really must be when this industry suffers, especially considering that illegal downloading has been around and popular for over a decade but hasn't really put a hurt on the industry until now.
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe. - Albert Einstein
Also--
Tue, 08/11/2009 - 11:15 ET by misterbillTips have gone down and are fewer.