WHEEL TROUBLE Hilton

It isn't only journalism purists who are dismayed over the news that NBC—and apparently People magazine as well—are prepared to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars for first access to post-jail Paris Hilton.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving will be most displeased should two major corporations choose to reward the hotel-chain heiress for getting behind the wheel hammered. (Hilton was jailed for driving without a license, which had been suspended after a DUI arrest.)

"Certainly, if it were true, we would have problems with that," says MADD spokeswoman Misty Moyse. "We would not expect any convicted drunk driver to receive a large amount of money for basically driving drunk. We would rather there be public support and dollars to eliminate drunk driving."

Moyse says MADD is awaiting confirmation of Hilton's deals with Today and People before it takes any action. The group recently called for Hilton's car to be fitted with an ignition interlock—a breathalyzer-like device that measures a driver's blood-alcohol level—to prevent her driving drunk again.

Official confirmation is not likely to come anytime soon. Hilton's crisis-management spokesman, Mike Sitrick, is denying that she's being paid anything—leaving open the possibility, of course, that the check will be made out to a surrogate, perhaps her parents. Asked specifically about that possibility, a Hilton spokesman declined to comment.

NBC News policy prohibits paying for interviews—but it allows for the buying of photos and video, and if Hilton just happens to grant her interview to whoever pays the most for her photo album, well, gosh, call it coincidence.

Showering cash on Hilton would be especially hypocritical for NBC considering that its parent company, General Electric, is one of MADD's corporate sponsors, underwriting a roadside assistance plan intended to keep intoxicated drivers—like you know who—from taking the wheel.

Photo: Splash News & Picture Agency