[Newspoetry] Not Quite the End of A Sad story

[Mike Lehman]

Suggested Slogan For The New Miss America Pageant
 "America- It's All About Image"
Mike
PS They wonder where the audience went?
Maybe it just is no longer relevant to the lives of so many people.
Maybe there is hope for SOMETHING in this country if so many people are
tuning out the Pageant.  Let's hope the Rest of the Right remains as
intent on making itself irrelevant in a new millineum.
BTW I am not against TALENT shows or other such.

                                      Miss America
                                      CEO Is Fired
                                      CEO Ousted in Wake of Controversy

                                      Robert Beck, head of the Miss
America
                                      Pageant, was released from his
                                      contract, two weeks after it was
                                      revealed that the pageant would
drop its
                                      nearly 50-year ban on contestants
                                      who've been married or undergone
                                      abortions. (Charles Rex
Arbogast/AP
                                      Photo)


                 By John Curran
                 The Associated Press
                 A T L A N T I C  C I T Y, N.J., Sept. 27 — The head of
                 the Miss America Pageant has been fired, two
                 weeks after it was revealed that the pageant
                 planned to drop its nearly 50-year ban on
                 contestants who’ve been married or undergone
                 abortions.
                      Robert L. Beck, 60, who took over as CEO of the
                 Miss America Organization last year, was released from
                 his contract Sunday night, according to a statement
issued
                 today by David Frisch, chairman of the pageant’s board
                 of directors.
                      Pageant officials announced the move in a
                 one-paragraph statement. Pageant spokesman John Healy
                 said Beck did not resign.
                      “While the board acknowledged Mr. Beck’s
                 contributions to the Miss America program during the 12

                 months that he served as president and CEO, they agreed

                 that selecting a new chief executive was in the best
                 interests of the organization at this time. A national
search
                 to replace Mr. Beck will commence immediately,”
                 Frisch’s statement said.
                      Neither Beck nor Frisch immediately returned
                 telephone messages seeking further comment.

                 Critics Say Changes Hurt Image
                 The Associated Press reported Sept. 13, five days
before
                 this year’s pageant finals, that the Miss America
                 Organization had adopted new rules, effective next
year,
                 to accept competitors who had been divorced or had
                 abortions. The changes were approved in June in order
to
                 bring the pageant in line with New Jersey’s
discrimination
                 laws, according to court documents.
                      The state pageant directors, along with current
                 contestants, former winners and for former pageant boss

                 Leonard C. Horn, blasted the changes as inconsistent
with
                 Miss America’s image.
                      Horn predicted that the changes, if left to stand,
would
                 ultimately lead to the destruction of the 78-year-old
                 pageant.
                      Amid the outcry, Beck said Sept. 14 that the board

                 had agreed to defer implementing the new rules and
might
                 cancel the change altogether.

                 Beck Impressed the Board
                 Asked if Beck’s dismissal would affect the contract
                 changes, Healy said he did not know. He said pageant
                 officials would not discuss Beck’s ouster further.
                      Jayne Bray, a board member, deferred comment on
                 the firing.
                      “I have not been privy to all the information
about why
                 this took place. I’ve been told David Frisch is the
board’s
                 spokesman on this,” said Bray, who formerly served as
                 chairwoman of the board. She would not say whether she
                 supported the move or not.
                      A lawyer by trade, Beck was named to the
                 $250,000-a-year job last year after Horn stepped down.
                 Beck impressed the pageant’s board with a resume that
                 included work with the U.S. Soccer Federation
                 Foundation and the national advocacy group Mothers
                 Against Drunk Driving.
                      The venerable pageant has also endured declining
                 ratings and has experimented with various format
changes.
                 When Miss Kentucky Heather Renee French was
                 crowned Miss America on Sept. 18, the ABC telecast
                 ranked 10th for the week in the Nielsen ratings. Its
10.1
                 rating — a measure of percentage of TV households —
                 was an all-time low, but Nielsen estimated 1.3 million
                 more people watched the competition than the year
                 before.



                 Copyright 1999 The Associated Press. All rights
                 reserved. This material may not be published,
                 broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.