I gotta say, this latest pay-for-dirt political website creeps me out a little. As explained in a release by the flacks at Rubenstein Associates in NYC:
AmericasTrueNews.com has just launched and is offering cash bounties of up to $50,000 to those who can offer verifiable facts about our Presidential candidates with the objective of getting to the truth about those seeking the nation's highest elective office.
The website will offer $200 to those individuals who e-mail previously undisclosed, or unreported, facts that can be verified and are then used on its site. In addition, $1,000 will be sent to those who can prove that the information posted on the site is, verifiably wrong. Finally, those who refer someone to the web site who is rewarded with a sweepstakes prize will get a percentage of the award.
However the web site will provide as much as $50,000 to the individual who can make claim on its "Knock Out Challenge" with verifiable information that stops either Democratic or Republican Presidential campaigns in their tracks with news so stunning that it makes the election a foregone conclusion....
Whatever it's noble objective, waving a $50,000 "bounty" around in the midst of an already nasty presidential race--not to mention a bad economy--is asking for something well beyond "the truth." And, call me cynical, but with only 19 days in which to "knock out" a candidate, I'm not exactly optimistic about how rigorous the verification process could be.
--Michelle Cottle