Business Insider Visits 12 Former Porn Stars ... Again

LOS ANGELES—Business Insider is so desperate for articles about porn that it has published the exact same article a year and a half apart, as if time stood still. Funny thing is, a commenter quickly called them out on the self-plagiarism, which they probably weren't expecting. The article is titled “12 Former Porn Stars Who Now Lead Boring, Normal Lives,” and even in its original form it was a non-original rehash of the 2010 documentary After Porn Ends, which itself was retitled and released by a reviled former member of the industry after its first run as Exxit: Life After Porn bombed. The BI author, Melia Robinson, was no doubt unaware of that when she first posted the story on July 1, 2013, or today when she posted it for the second time, 18 months later, without a single word updated. As a form of instant karma, today’s readers had little patience for the article’s lack of originality, with one commenting, “So basically you took screenshots from a documentary movie about this (After Porn Ends) and turned it into an article? Isn't this plagiarism??” And another pointing out, “Please don't reuse articles,” with a link to the original. And yet another reader noted, “I actually Googled their names and 9 of them out of 12 are still in the porn industry…” Of course, all publicity is good publicity, so to the extent that performers past and present who want it are getting some extra exposure, they are probably not complaining, but it’s also true that some of their bios need updating. Indeed, a quick search of AVN.com for Asia Carrera would have called up a recent story about her Pastafarian conversion, an item that was also reported by mainstream outlets. But then, one would only undertake such a search if one was in fact interested. Oh, and referring to Shelley Lubben as a porn star is always incorrect, as is lumping her in with bona fide stars. That alone leaves an indelible stain of ignorance on the effort. Photo: The former Asia Carrera's recently obtained driver's license, with pasta bowl firmly on head.