Chron editorial board fritters away last vestiges of credibility
Over at Lone Star Times, Matt Bramanti documents the latest embarrassment for the unethical Houston Chronicle editorial board: presenting large chunks of a press release as their own work.
Bramanti concludes:
It’s a shame that the Chron’s editors celebrate education by taking another’s words and passing them off as their own. There’s a word for that.
Yes there is. In addition, it's lazy and unprofessional.
In recent weeks, the Chron editorial board has been caught donating money to political candidates, has refused to answer questions about the ethical transgressions, and just when you think their credibility really can't decline any further, they prove that it can by plagiarizing from a press release.
This is not the sort of behavior one would expect from professionals at a major daily newspaper (although since columnist Rick Casey once plagiarized with no repercussions, one can understand why some writers at the newspaper wouldn't worry that much about it, especially Jeff Cohen's pets).
We can't help but wonder -- if these "professionals" can't even manage to craft original words for two editorials* per daily edition, why shouldn't the editorial page simply be terminated and the resources redistributed through the newsroom?
Bramanti has an email out to the Chron's reader representative(s) about this, and so do I. Since said reader representatives refuse to answer my emails or approve my comments to their blog, I'm not holding my breath waiting for a response. But I'll post it if they surprise me.
* On occasion, the editorial page still runs those insipid "Another Voice" reprints from other newspapers in place of a house editorial. Maybe they could just start posting press releases too?
Posted by Kevin Whited @ 10/22/08 11:48 AM | Print |
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