Tony Ortega in 3-D: Deceit, Distraction, Discredited

When we last looked in on Backpage, ads for underage “escorts” and “ exotic body-rubs” were providing millions in monthly profit for Village Voice Media, the company signing Tony Ortega’s paychecks.

Perhaps this is why Tony and his bosses were so desperate to change what was quickly becoming the national topic of conversation — the alarming fact that human sex trafficking was being supported by private corporations in the United States.

And Tony Ortega was right there on the frontlines defending the rights of corporation to make money off the backs of underage children and marginalized women.

We saw in our last installment how Craigslist bowed to the public outcry against its Adult Section. This was due in part to Malika Saada Saar, who ran an organization called The Rebecca Project, is widely credited with putting the nail in the coffin of Craigslist “Adult” advertising.

Backpage, however, was going to be different beast all together, which many believed would viciously defend itself if cornered.

Indeed, as Ms. Saada Saar explained in an interview, “for Craigslist, this was an issue of conscience” but for the Village Voice, its Backpage sex-related listings were, in her words:

“….almost [Village Voice Media’s] sole opportunity for economic viability. It is their business model. And I think they will aggressively, belligerently, selfishly hold onto this.”

And it was true, from that moment on Village Voice publications began focusing a lot of time and energy attempting to dismantle the notion that sex trafficking on America’s shores was a legitimate concern.

It was a play coming directly from the propagandist’s playbook. Tony Ortega — whose legacy as a discredited tabloid journalist has always been one of deceitful distractions— took it and ran with it.

To Tony Ortega, opposition to Backpage’s flesh-peddling business model was nothing more than the mischievous work of religious zealots and political activists with too much time on their hands — and he was bound and determined to make that case to anyone foolish enough to listen to him.

From his office in New York, Tony Ortega would write a rambling 4,000 word piece in a desperate attempt to throw cold water on the widely-accepted statistics regarding the number of American children victimized by the sex industry. His deceit was meant to discredit

Ask yourself, what kind of sick individual would deceive his readers by discrediting sex trafficking statistics in order to distract from what his corporate masters were trying to get away with?

The answer pops out at you from the screen like 3-D: Tony Ortega.