Associated Press Bans Skank

The Associated Press has decided to go cold turkey with one of its major addictions: stories about Paris Hilton. In the year 2006, the hotel heirhead appeared on the wire an average of twice a week.

Jesse Washington, the wire service's entertainment editor, recently sent a memo to staffers that said, with the exception of major events, the AP would not run any mention of Paris on the wire.

In an interview with the New York Observer, Jesse said, "There was a surprising amount of hand-wringing. A lot of people in the newsroom were saying this was tampering with the news." Jesse added that one editor's response was: "This is a great idea -- can we add North Korea?"

Despite a few slips where her name managed to find its way into a coulpe of stories, the AP was largely successful in the experiment.

Kudos to you, Associated Press, for a job well done!

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