CNN exposes criminal exploitation and sex-slavery in Craig’s List “Adult Services”
The Scandal that Keeps on Giving
Stories of exploitation and abuse on Craig’s List first broke late in 2009. Investigative reports of prostitution and other illegal activity escalated in the flurry of activity around the “Craig’s List Killer,” the disaffected medical student who allegedly murdered at least two prostitutes he solicited via the online classified service. In the wake of all the brouhaha, Craig’s List officials stepped-up their monitoring of “Adult Services” advertising, claiming they were vetting every ad, especially checking for under-age violations and pandering.
When intense media scrutiny subsided, Adult Services once again flourished in the darkness.
Now, in an exceptionally hard-hitting investigative piece, CNN’s Amber Lyon exposes the full range of criminal activity lurking behind salacious Craig’s List posts. Through the first phase of the piece, Lyon captures the life of a Craig’s List sex worker, who calmly and matter-of-factly discloses that she services eight to ten “clients” per day at the rate of $250(usd) per hour, giving all the money to her pimp, fearing for her life should she attempt escape. Lyon goes on to show that her up-close profile represents thousands of similarly-situated women, entrapped in a life of degradation, literally “owned and operated” by their pimps.
Lyon continues the report, going face-to-face with Craig himself, demanding, “What are you doing to correct this problem?” The most agonizing silence in television history ensues, and Lyon wisely “lets it roll” as Craig remains dumb. When Craig half-heartedly suggests that the media ought to continue reporting abuses, Lyon boldly responds, “You said you assumed responsibility for preventing abuse on your site.” Another painful, protracted silence ensues.
After the report aired, Craig’s List executives reiterated their commitment to monitoring adult classified ads, but they added nothing to their previous statements.
Amber Lyon grows buzzworthy
Even stone-hearted critics agree beautiful, brilliant, hard-working women have built CNN’s Special Investigations Unit into a formidable force. In the last two years, Abby Boudreau has filed remarkable stories, including a great piece with Sarah Palin in Alaska , on Alaska. Now, Amber Lyon brings poise, polish, and skill to the team, literally taking it places it never would have gone without her—underwater in the Gulf of Mexico, for example. Clearly unafraid of getting oily or breaking a nail, Lyon donned full diving gear and submersed right into the oil slick, delivering an unprecedented, unparalleled view of BP’s environmental fail-fest. Her latest piece on Craig’s List and the dark underside of the “adult services” section showcased Lyons’s range: she went undercover with a prostitute, face-to-face with Craig himself, and primly-properly to the anchor desk..in 120 seconds. Few journalists ever will match the performance.
Schooled at the prestigious University of Missouri School of Journalism, and genuinely educated during several years of “backpack reporting” in Guatemala, Lyon has been “up and down the dial,” collecting Emmy and Edward R. Murrow Awards along the way. CNN executives know they scored a major coup when they signed Lyon, and viewers’ comments indicate just how wholeheartedly they agree.
