I had heard the story on the radio and then read Al Diamon's blog Media Mutt on the writing scandal.
Plagiarism? Yes, but as it turns out, not of each other. Both papers copied large amounts of their coverage from a news release put out by the Maine Warden Service. Except for the first paragraphs, the articles track the release almost exactly.Is it a case of laziness? Small staff? Who knows. It is, in any case, irresponsible and unacceptable.
The release: “Harrison Sawyer, 56, of Trenton set out at approximately 6:30 yesterday from Pittston Farm, canoed across the north branch of the Penobscot River and trekked to the location where he has hunted for several years.”
The Bar Harbor Times: “Harrison Sawyer, 56, of Trenton set out at approximately 6:30 a.m. from Pittston Farm, canoed across the north branch of the Penobscot River and trekked to the location where he has hunted for several years.”
The Bangor Daily News: “Harrison Sawyer, 56, left Pittston Farm at about 6:30 a.m., canoed across the north branch of the Penobscot River and trekked to a spot where he has hunted for several years, according to Deborah Turcotte, spokeswoman for the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife.” -- from Al Diamon
I make sure to teach my students that a press release is NOT a news source. It is a source to be used in having interviews and writing your story. They should be used as a first step in creating a news story -- not the ONLY step.
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5 comments:
I did a search for Harrison's name this morning. Many, many sites came up commenting about the Bar Harbor Times and Bangor Daily news reporting of the accident.
Only once did I see any comment left expressing any sympathy to the family.
Harrison and his wife Marcia were high school sweethearts, they have 2 sons and a daughter.
Unless a miracle happens, Harrison's family and all those who loved him, will soon be mourning the loss of a wonderful husband, father and friend.
I'm one of Harrison's cousins.
Perhaps his accident isn't new worthy, as far as news goes, but perhaps a bit more compassion is due to his family. His life is more then the sum of words typed on a computer.
"The truly happy person is the one who can enjoy the scenery even when he must take a detour" - Anonymous
It is sad that someone who calls themselves a "journalist" based in New England can't understand that in a small town/community like Trenton Maine the news of a long time community member who was know and liked through out the area would be worth a 2 paragraph article in the local papers. And to criticize the article themselves shows her complete lack of tact and compassion, I suppose that her professionalism would have lead her to calling one of Harrisons children, his wife or grandaughter to talk with them so that her article would be better than the one published from the press release, maybe she would have gone to the hospital to ty and interview his doctors or publish a picture. This attitude is why journalists are view with such "respect and admiration" by the rest of society.
I am not writing this blog to report the news. I would never have called a grieving family just to post something on this blog. I have this blog to share the interesting things I read with my friends and whoever stops by.
What the reporters from The Bangor Daily News and The Bar Harbor Times should have done was interview the grieving families because it is their FULL TIME PAID JOB to report the news. I think, Anonymous, you are confusing me with a full time newspaper reporter, which I am not. It is the duty of these daily news reporters to fully report. I was simply highlighting the fact that they weren't doing their job to the best of their ability.
Church-goer,
It is not in the nature of journalism to pontificate about the grieving of families. Journalists must stay free of bias -- it's the nature of their job to report the facts and keep their feelings and emotions to themselves. Of course every tragic accident has an impact on the family members and friends, but showing such compassion and sympathy is not what makes up a breaking news story.
And while your cousins accident was a news story, the fact that two local newspapers did such a shoddy job of reporting it that they basically copied a news release is, in itself, news. Journalism is a code of ethics and when that code is broken, people notice and get offended -- as you should be for the lack of due dilligence the reporters who wrote these stories gave your cousin.
Hi Mimi,
I arrived here through your comment over at Renegade Writer.
Thought I'd drop by and have a look and I'm glad I did.
I look forward to coming by again - I'm heading over to subscribe.
Cheers!
George
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