This New England

"The Harlot's Progress, '' by William Hogarth

I had to laugh at the recent Connecticut crackdown on people using craigslist for prostitution. Just look at the ads in many "counter-culture'' weekly newspapers targeted mostly at teens and young adults. For that matter, other, more dignified publications take the revenue too.

One of my previous employers, the very upscale International Herald Tribune, derived a considerable part of its classfied-ad (RIP) revenue from professionals identified as "international escorts.''

While these charming pros' multilingual language skills and all-around urbanity and sophistication were touted in the ad copy, the pitch was, between the lines, far more biological (but not reproductive).

God bless 'em. They helped keep us in the black while ensuring a warm and well-coiffed welcome for many lonely international businessmen in Paris, Brussels and (especially, for some strange reason) stodgy Geneva.

As The New York Times mulls whether to put what is now its wholly owned IHT unit to sleep, I think fondly back to that expansive era for publishing some 20 years ago.

 Tags  craigslist Geneva International Herald Tribune New York Times prostitution

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