ETAA: Hey IDFers, it never even occurred to me to pitch this story to the NY Post. Because, I think it’s a non-story.
ETA: Holy Cow. Check out this thread at Idol Forums. Some Adam fans have been keeping themselves busy harassing contacting media outlets, making them aware of all their crazed conspiracy theories. Serious LOlz if this Times story was prompted by a Claymate-like email campaign… The kids at IDF are sure taking credit for it…
And now, from the “Oh No They Di’int” department:
The New York Times has thrown it’s ‘mighty reporting weight behind…Idol Fan Conspiracy Theories!
I mean, I wasn’t the least bit surprised when Extra TV wondered if Idol votes were legit (and still quoting the 38 million votes out of Arkansas story days after it had been debunked…)
But the New York Times? Really? Here’s a snip of their breathless reporting on this oh-so-important subject:
LOS ANGELES ‘ AT&T, one of the biggest corporate sponsors of …American Idol, might have influenced the outcome of this year competition by providing phones for free text-messaging services and lessons in casting blocks of votes at parties organized by fans of Kris Allen, the Arkansas singer who was the winner of the show last week.
Representatives of AT&T, whose mobile phone network is the only one that can be used to cast …American Idol votes via text message, provided the free text-messaging services at two parties in Arkansas after the final performance episode of …American Idol last week, according to the company and people at the events.
If the Times writer had any sense of Idol history, he’d know that AT&T rep-attended Idol parties have been going on for years. I remember hearing about reps helping Elliot Yamin and Taylor Hicks fans text back in Season 5.
The Times goes on to note that “there appears to have been no similar efforts to provide free texting services to supporters of Adam Lambert, who finished as the runner-up to Mr. Allen.”
Appears to have been? Did the Times reporter even attempt to check it out? And even if there were no AT&T reps present at any Adam Lambert viewing parties, I don’t think we’ve got a story here unless it’s proven that AT&T willfully avoided helping out the fans of other Idol contestants.
It’s business as usual for Idol sponsors, AT&T, who attend these Idol viewing parties hoping to sell more phone services. No big conspiracy theories here. And anyway, I highly doubt a couple of phone salespeople showing some Kris Allen fans how to text vote made a difference in last week’s results.
But, now that the Times has covered it, watch as this non-story explodes on the news cycle in the next couple of days…
