When I first heard about news anchor Mika Brzezinski refusing to read out a story about Paris Hilton I suspected her outrage might have been faked. I just couldn't accept that a newsreader -- highly paid no doubt -- would jeopardise her income by acting so unprofessionally.

Looks like many other people saw things this way too.

In the story linked above, the final lines are, "When it comes to Paris, we've all had enough".

Clearly not true. If it were, the piece wouldn't have been written. We all know that Paris Hilton is a vain twit. But she still draws huge interest, let's face it.

It seems that this condemnatory technique of reporting on Paris Hilton is a way for media organizations to get their ratings and, er, disavow them too.

For ages the Road Traffic Authority has used increasingly graphic ads to try to dissuade hoons from hooning.

Now they're trying a very different, more minimilistic approach. I suspect it might be the most successful campaign yet.