Yesterday, Poynter's Jim Romenesko totally busted Omaha World-Herald Publisher Terry Kroeger lifting sections of Kansas City Star Publisher Mark Zieman's pep talk letter to readers.
Kroeger's December 7 column featured this passage:
"To be sure, this year has been difficult for newspapers, including
your World-Herald. The economic downturn has reduced our advertising
revenue, which has forced us to adjust our expenses, including reducing
our work force by 51 employees last month."
Which is so clearly different from this graph from Zieman's November 29 desperate plea to readers magnum opus:
"To be sure, this year has been particularly difficult for newspapers,
including your hometown Star. The deep and widening recession has
significantly reduced our advertising revenue, which has forced us to
slash expenses and lay off valued employees."
Romenesko also highlighted this graph from Kroeger:
"Yet the business that is The World-Herald is still highly successful,
which surprises some of my friends and even relatives. They are amazed
that I am so optimistic about The World-Herald's future. They are
stunned to hear that we are solidly profitable, even in this tough
economy."
And Zieman's:
"Yet The Star still
shines, a fact that comes as a shock to my friends, colleagues and even
relatives. As publisher, I am approached as people would greet a dying
man, with eyes downcast and in hushed tones. They are relieved to
discover I'm optimistic about The Star's future. They are astounded to
hear we're still solidly profitable."
Those
aren't the only similar passages. Romenesko could have found so much
more. Take the opening origin stories of dueling publishers -- World-Herald's Gilbert M. Hitchcock versus The Star's William Rockhill Nelson. Or this gem:
Zieman: "Bloggers, talk radio hosts, TV pundits and ideologues on both ends
of the spectrum all can entertain and inform. But only the local
newspaper has the staff, responsibility and ethics policies to
carefully gather the facts and present them in an objective format so
that citizens, working together, can tackle the problems that threaten
our communities or endanger our democracy."
Kroeger: "Bloggers, talk-radio hosts and TV pundits all can entertain and inform.
But only the local newspaper has the staff, experience and expertise to
gather facts on a wide range of topics and present them in an objective
and understandable format so that citizens can tackle the problems in
our communities and region."
Kroeger responded to Romenesko today, noting he had Zieman's permission to use "some of his ideas."
"Thus
a few of them made it into my column, although I would note there are
some meaningful differences between the two," Kroeger wrote. "Looking
at it today, I wish I had mentioned Mr. Zieman's column as a point of
reference, but I didn't."
Yeah, "meaningful differences" my ass.
Here's just one more example.
Zieman: "Only a well-trained and well-resourced newspaper staff could do
those stories, or others that exposed lavish perks and expense account
excesses at Missouri's huge teacher pension fund ..."
Kroeger: "Only a well-trained, well-resourced newspaper staff could produce the
extensive coverage by The World-Herald of last year's Von Maur
shootings ..."
Kroeger, how about you use your "well-trained and well-resourced newspaper" to write your own stuff? -- Justin Kendall
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