Proper credit
After reading yesterday’s post, someone at a Missouri newspaper made a good point: a newspaper’s editor, not the reporter, has the final say in what makes the print edition of the newspaper.
For me to criticize the reporter (1) for failing to cite the Arch City Chronicle assumes that the reporter did not include the citation in her original copy, and that is an unfair assumption.
Maybe the original version of today’s Kansas City Star piece gave the ACC credit for discovering the link between the Sandra Thomas campaign press release and Daryl Duwe, and an editor removed the reference. Who knows?
I’ve always had a feeling that political reporters, who visit Missouri blogs every day, value those blogs — and that their editors are the ones who consider bloggers to be second-rate muckrakers undeserving of the ink on their dead trees. (2)
Eventually — when the average old typewriter-era newspaper editor either assumes room temperature or discovers the Internet (3) — their chairs will be assumed by people who understand the medium.
Meanwhile, bloggers should continue to point out when newspapers take stories from bloggers and fail to cite them as a source. (4)
Unless bloggers keep pointing out when this happens (5), bloggers will continue to be treated like a mistress by the traditional media — newspapers will use us to satisfy their immediate needs, but never acknowledge our services in public. (6)
(1) The author of the article in question, Jo Mannies, is very good about citing blogs as sources in Political Fix posts. Witness last night’s post on the topic.
(2) Reporters and editors: Am I right?
(3) My money is on the former.
(4) While you would never expect the Missouri Republican Party to acknowledge a site like johncombest.com, it’s surprising that the Missouri Dems — who seem to know their USB port from a hole in the ground — didn’t cite the ACC as the source of the story.
(5) Roy Temple noted an example some time ago. I don’t remember all the details, but it was noteworthy because I agreed with every word he wrote.
(6) As pointed out in the Letters section of The New Yorker (Sept. 4, 2006 — not available online), bloggers on the left and right are united in their disdain for the arrogance of traditional media outlets. Using blogs as sources without giving them credit intensifies this perception.
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