Using Hot Photos, Sex & Sexism to Generate Clicks

Last December, Glynnis MacNicol wrote a diatribe for Mediaite in which she calls into question the use of sexism to cause outrage in the blogosphere, which translates into clicks.

To support her thesis, Ms. MacNicol revisited the idea of using sex to generate traffic and she linked-out the Huffington Post's reprint of the Pirelli calendar, plus an article from the Washington City Paper, in which the author links to several HuffPo slideshows of nipple slips to illustrate a similar theme.

Yesterday, I questioned the wisdom of Ted Rall's most recent animation. Though among his "tips" to save newspapers was a slide that read; "Another key to survival: Pop culture core readers love".

Somewhere between Mr. Rall's suggestion and the common knowledge that sex sells, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution must have taken something to heart because last night, they published to their website, which I assume is in today's print edition, an enlargeable photo and repackaged press release from Playboy giving a short bio for a local girl deemed "Miss April" (pictured), along with notice of a casting call.

Semi-Related: Miss Nebraska Brittany Jeffers promoted to KLKN anchor

PSA: Don't Call Them Zambonis

There have been an "electrical malfunction" due to a "maintenance issue" with some ice resurfacing equipment at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, which has caused delays in some events.

J. Zamboni & Co. would like everyone to know that the problematic machines are Olympia brand, manufactured by Resurfice Corp. and not Zamboni branded equipment.

Zamboni bid the games and have successfully been used at twelve prior Olympics, but Vancouver opted for machines from their rivals, so they'd like the media and the public to be aware of the difference.

To avoid future delays, Vancouver has now borrowed a proper Zamboni.