The relationship between blogs and newspapers is often tense. Back in the Golden Days of the Star, I argued that bloggers and journalists are not equivalent, but the truth is that sometimes solid reporting happens on blogs, and sometimes loose copying happens in newspapers.
I’m amused more than angry, and Lynn Horsley need not worry about hearing from my lawyers for her theft without proper attribution. She did the exact same thing that Tony’s Kansas City (a local joke blog, for those who don’t follow such things) did, but at least Tony had the blogger ethics to include me in his blogroll, even if he didn’t cite his source in the text of his article.
The shocking thing, though, is how thin a reed this story was built upon. Lynn Horsley doesn’t know me, and, for all she knows, I completely made up my post about Beth not seeking re-election. Or I could have been fooled by someone “leaking” such news to me. She didn’t even call me or email me to make sure the blog posting was the truth before she published. I published the release, Tony copied it, and that’s all it takes for the Star to put it in the paper. Lynn Horsley even had the nerve to publish that Beth Gottstein, the subject of her article, “could not be reached for comment.” What about reaching her for confirmation, Ms. Horsley?
Folks, that’s real sloppiness in the Kansas City Star, and it’s fortunate that this won’t be blowing up in Horsley’s face. But if Lynn Horsley wants to dismissively refer to Gone Mild as a nameless “local blog” – as if I’m too lowly to warrant a mention in her esteemed newspaper – she ought to act like a real journalist herself.
And she really ought to tighten up her standards before April 1.