By Mr. Peabody
I'm a pro. My boss told you so.
The other day Register “reporter” Lou Ponsi put forth a story he read about on our blog first and presented it as his own to his handful of unsuspecting readers.
Apparently the idea that you can pilfer somebody else’s story and claim it as your own finds favor with Lou Ponsi’s “supervisor,” too. His name is Jim Radcliffe and below is his response to a complaint lodged by one of our readers.
See, according to Radcliffe if you “independently” verify someone else’s work then you’re in the clear to pretend that the story is yours. He notes that The Register stories get “picked up” all the time and that it is a compliment. No, Jim, even if true it’s swinish behavior, and just because you claim you don’t mind getting ripped off doesn’t men anybody else has to like having it happen to them.
Here is Radcliffe’s comical defense:
Papers are always taking advantage of blogs that way. How difficult, how painful, would it be for them to write “As first reported in the Friends For Fullerton’s Future blog?”
Vern. See my response posted on the FFFF blog
Vern, some of our commenters are speculating that mentioning our blog would get them blackballed by the FPD spokeshole. I am not dismissing that possibility.
Oh, and then what would they have to report, without having access to the official line? Buncha stenographers.
It is standard practice and courtesy to quote the original creator for any piece of work. It is called plagiarism when you try to claim credit for work that is not your own. Perhaps, the staff at the register have not attended university and therefore are less than educated? This is a glaring example of why I do not purchase the “Register” newspaper. When coupled with their biased views why would anyone buy the paper?
I have had a few of my stories picked up by the Register and the Independent. In one case it was helpful, in the other both the papers did their best to water down the context and unravel any good that the article might have done by informing the public.
Whether one paper credits another should, I think, depend on how original the breaking story was. In this case, a simple citation plus a bit more would have been appropriate. Much of what passes for original reporting in the Register is no more than Press Release rewrites anyway, which is probably the worst kind of plagiarism.
Take the Register’s reporting on Poseidon’s desalination plant, for example (go to http://www.surfcityvoice.com and type “fake poll” in the search). Same thing with the dishonestly named Independent, owned by Tribune, Times, company. We all know that much of what is passed to us from the mainstream press for local news (or any news) is bullshit.
But, frankly, I see the Orange Juice blog as largely a lost opportunity because for the most part all it does is regurgitate the bullshit first reported in the Register, Times, etc. but with each writer’s own spin, followed by the usual pissing matches in comments like this one. If even ONE of you writing for this blog took the time to follow the example of the Surf City Voice (yes, this is an arrogant, conceited plug, but a well deserved one if I may say so) and act like the professional reporters you could be (instead of simply bashing the crappy reporters at the Register), and if somebody else from each blog in OC did the same thing, and we we all helped each other in our professional reporting pursuits, we might actually provide a much more effective response to the corporate puppet press that all of you, or many of you, on Orange Juice like to bash.
I have said as much to Vern before, and Vern is, when he wants to be, a fine writer, researcher, thinker and reporter/columnist (witness his short stint a few years back at the Orange Coast Voice), but like others who no doubt have great talent too, he choose to waste it by regurgitating corporate press crap and bitching about it, but without taking the effort (yes, it’s much harder work than just bitching, but you get out of something that which you put into it) to do the job that he finds lacking in the press.
So, I’m sure that this comment will either: 1) not be taken well and ignored after the requisite, perhaps angry, rationalizations; 2) be acknowledged as a great truth with the requisite “buts” and then ignored; 3) will just be ignored altogether because who the hell wants to do any work anyway? So, my liberal friends, blog on if you will, but if any one of you out there wants to get serious, let’s talk.
Oh, I forgot one point: to those of you who say “Oh, I don’t have time to do that.” Well, from personal experience I can tell you that if a lot of you spent half the time doing real reporting that you do just repeating what you read elsewhere and bitching about it, together we could form a real force to raise the bar on journalism in Orange County way higher than it is now.
Nuff Said
You wanna repeat this analysis/challenge as an actual post here, so it gets more attention? You do have an account. (“Surf City Voice.”)
PS. There is a legitimate place in blogs to opine on the noise of the day. But it’s true that you’ve been doing some great original investigative journalism which we all should aspire to.
After thinking overnight… sometimes we do do journalism, when we can. Especially my new bloggers Ted Tipton and Amber Stephens. But none of us get paid for this.
I’ve done some good journalism myself on this blog. And I know you’ve been burning up the Surf City Voice.
But on the other hand – and you’ll probably call this an “excuse” – one of the greatest things about BLOGS is to be able to opine about the issues of the day, locally and nationally, and then have a place for everyone to argue about it and see who makes the best case. Hundreds of people read these arguments, and sometimes are swayed by the better ones. And they’re all at least entertained.
If this seems like a “pissing contest” to you, then come by more often and contribute some higher-quality piss.
Vern. I find it interesting when we post comments that later appear as stories on the Register. Case in point is the status of Supreme Court justice Ginsburg. I was discussing the importance of winning the presidential election next Nov based on the current 5-4 split. She as a liberal Democrat is the elder statesperson of the nine currently serving members.
Check today’s Register coverage
While it is surely possible that with three million occupants in OC, and more than a handful of bloggers, we can often find two writers with similar thoughts.
No, I won’t call it an excuse. I would call it a rationalization.
Nope, no “rationalization,” I’m actually proud of being able to have a forum where we can argue about these issues.
And I’m ALSO proud when we break new stories, like journalists.