Reading the Charlotte Sun Newspaper

This morning’s local columnist highlights a lot of what’s gone soft with our community of local journalists. His column’s most important spot, the opening paragraph (“the lede”), is devoted to a plea, begging readers to send him some news. He’s desperate!

The next four paragraphs list examples of all the things readers could be sending him: menu changes, anniversaries and historical information all make the list. Whew, that list takes up another two inches!

Not once does it seem to occur to the columnist to do the real reporter thing: dig for a story. Go research an issue that affects local lives and businesses. Cultivate sources, make phone calls. Get out of the chatty, self-referential office and head over to city hall to read the county budget (where did all those state recycling-grant funds go?). Peruse land transactions. Find out why the Burger King was torn down and who the contractor is on that job and how much the rennovation is costing. Will management change? Head over to the sheriff’s department to talk to the staff, not just read press releases. What happened to the federal jail inspection report?

The columnist fancies himself a business writer. So tell locals what’s with the Walgreens expansion on Route 70. How does a national corporation decide to build an outlet across the street from the Wal-Mart pharmacy? What does the construction cost? Where will management come from? Who’s the contractor moving all that dirt? When does the front door open? There’s a major business story right under the reporter’s nose, but no one has sent him a press release.

The writer/columnist needs to look at how journalists actually work. Not one of them opens up a story by begging readers to send in news. Real reporters cultivate sources and build trusted connections. They don’t beg for it.

The story is all about toxic FEMA trailers: formaldehyde used in the interior glue may be responsible for asthma and other breathing problems in children who lived in them. The story was filed from Bay St. Louis, Miss. The news page needs art. So the child pictured is one of those who might be affected, right? Wrong.

Charlotte Sun page designers found this picture of a cute kid, playing in a children’s park near an apartment complex in Pass Christian, Miss. The child is not named in the story; he does not live in the town where the reporter filed the story; he is not identified as ever having lived in a FEMA trailer. But page designers decided he’d be the perfect illustration for the toxic trailer story.

Brilliant…

Joe Gallimore, the Sun’s resident pugilist, now gives fitness advice in his business column: in order to promote a local Ju-Jitsu academy, Gallimore said, “Lose weight, get stronger! Kickboxing will give you twice the benefit of any other aerobic exercise because you are making contact.” Can you give readers a source for this assertion, Joe?

Joe Gallimore this morning announces to DeSoto Sun readers that a professional, lightweight boxer named Edner Cherry is an ambassador for Hardee County. The problem is, Gallimore does not interview Cherry and shares no detail with readers that would qualify the Bahamas native as Hardee County’s ambassador. There is not one single direct quote – sentence or word – from the young man about the county or Wauchula, where Gallimore reports he lives. (Is it possible the fighter was moved to Wauchula by a manager or trainer? There’s no report or evidence of family, school or community connections, although it is certainly possible these connections exist — Gallimore is not known for his ability to provide backgrounding.)

This article wouldn’t have rated a mention except that Gallimore notes in his closing paragraphs: “Edner defeated his opponent decisively, knocking him down twice and then “Cherry Bombing” him in the 10th and final round with a knockout that’s sure to make the highlight reels.”

Let’s see. Hardee County’s “ambassador” wasn’t born here; he hits grown men in the face for money, and his reputation is based on landing another man flat on his back, unconscious and bleeding, suffering injuries that are known to lead to brain damage and Parkinson’s-like conditions. That’s some diplomat.

“Don’t put off your mammogram this summer” is an article bylined to Sandy Powers and credited as being “Special to Feeling Fit,” the health-topics tab that’s the domain of editor Dawn Krebs and distributed with the Sunday Charlotte Sun.

In fact, the article is not special to Feeling Fit. It’s a word-for-word reproduction of an article posted on the Web at E-Zine Articles Dot Com.

As it turns out, the mission of E-Zine Articles is to have legitimate publishers use its free material – and it gives a lengthy list of “terms of service.” People who have a book to sell or a Web site sales pitch to promote seem willing to write these articles and hope editors like Krebs will give them a little free publicity – without telling local readers that the writer isn’t a local writer (remember, this is America’s Best Community Daily), is not necessarily an established expert in the field, and has no particular credentials or other recommendations. Sandy Powers is offering a freebie in exchange for a plug for her book on “organic” health products.

As if that weren’t enough, Krebs violates several of the E-Zine’s terms of service.

Krebs and Sun Coast Media Group did not provide the full “resource box” or sig line at the end of the article, as required. It did not credit E-zine Articles with an active link to its site. Sun Coast charges readers to view the article (neither its newspapers nor its e-edition are free) in violation of a specific requirement that the article be made available without charge. It also changed the title of the story from “Is Your Mammogram Working For You?” to “Don’t put off your mammogram this summer,” another violation.

So, local newspaper readers are being misled on several levels. Krebs and her editors are violating both the letter and the spirit of this little Web site’s enterprise. This is not ethical journalism; this is not ethical health reporting. And it’s certainly not an ethical use of the readership’s trust.

It’s just another day at Sun-Herald newspapers, where readers don’t get what they pay for.

May 27 Update: Charlotte Sun Editor Chris Porter tells Old Word Wolf the article’s author is a local woman, from Englewood, in fact. And, he says, she herself submitted the article to the Sun for publication. E-Zine Articles’ terms of service and its author’s guidelines do not bar the writer from re-submitting her own work, in which case E-Zine’s stipulations probably don’t apply. However, OWW maintains this article is not “Special to Feeling Fit” and its editors should not tell readers that it is.

Barbara Oehlbeck offers Sun-Herald readers a feature today that explains the origins of “Decoration Day.” Unfortunately, she didn’t explain the origins of 99 percent of her prose in the article. Old Word Wolf is happy to remedy Oehlbeck’s oversight.

For most of the article, Oehlbeck appears to have cut and pasted directly from The History Channel’s Web site. Where the History Channel leaves off, Oehlbeck turns to World Book Encyclopedia, a excerpt of which has been reposted — with attribution — at Ancestors.com. Here’s the word-for-word comparison of Oehlbeck, writing for the Sun-Herald under her by-line with no further attribution, and the sources she appears to have appropriated as a fitting memorial to those who died for their country.

The History Channel: Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day because it was a time set aside to honor the nation’s Civil War dead by decorating their graves.
Oehlbeck: Turning back to 1868, we find the beginnings of what is now known as Memorial Day, a time that was set aside to honor the nation’s Civil War dead by decorating their graves.
The History Channel: It was first widely observed on May 30, 1868, to commemorate the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers, by proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former sailors and soldiers. On May 5, 1868, Logan declared in General Order No. 11 that: The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.
Oehlbeck: The day was first widely observed on May 30, 1868, to commemorate the sacrifices of Civil War soldiers by proclamation of General John A. Logan of the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of former sailors and soldiers. On May 5, 1868, Gen. Logan declared in General Order No. 11 that: The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village, and hamlet churchyard in the land. In this observance no form of ceremony is prescribed, but posts and comrades will in their own way arrange such fitting services and testimonials of respect as circumstances may permit.
The History Channel: During the first celebration of Decoration Day, General James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery.
Oehlbeck: During the first celebration of Decoration Day, Gen. James Garfield made a speech at Arlington National Cemetery, after which 5,000 participants helped to decorate the graves of the more than 20,000 Union and Confederate soldiers buried in the cemetery.
The History Channel: This 1868 celebration was inspired by local observances of the day in several towns throughout America that had taken place in the three years since the Civil War.
Oehlbeck: This 1868 celebration was inspired by local observances of the day in several towns throughout America that had taken place in the three years since the Civil war.
The History Channel: In 1966, the federal government, under the direction of President Lyndon Johnson, declared Waterloo, N.Y., the official birthplace of Memorial Day. They chose Waterloo—which had first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866—because the town had made Memorial Day an annual, community-wide event during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags.
Oehlbeck: In 1966, the federal government, under the direction of President Lyndon Johnson, declared Waterloo, N.Y., the official birthplace of Memorial Day. They chose Waterloo—which had first celebrated the day on May 5, 1866—because the town had made Memorial Day an annual, community-wide event during which businesses closed and residents decorated the graves of soldiers with flowers and flags.
World Book via Ancestors dot com: To honor members of the armed forces who died at sea, some ports of the United States also organize ceremonies where tiny ships filled with flowers are set afloat on the water. A boat filled with flowers, made by the students of Easton High School, is set afloat on the Delaware River. Since the end of World War I, Memorial Day has also been Poppy Day. Ex-servicemen sell small, red artificial poppies to help disabled veterans.
Oehlbeck: To honor members of the armed forces who died at sea, some ports of the United States also organize ceremonies where tiny ships filled with flowers are set afloat on the water. A boat filled with flowers, made by the students of Easton High School, is set afloat on the Delaware River.Since the end of World War I, Memorial Day has also been Poppy Day. Ex-servicemen sell small, red artificial poppies to help disabled veterans.
World Book: Memorial Day originated during the Civil War when some Southern women chose May 30 to decorate soldiers’ graves. The women honored the dead of both the Union and Confederate armies. It is believed that a Virginia woman, Cassandra Oliver Moncure, was largely responsible. Of French origin, she may have chosen May 30 because in France this date was “The Day of the Ashes.” This French memorial day commemorated the return of Napoleon Bonaparte’s remains to France from St. Helena.
Oehlbeck: It is believed that a Virginia woman, Cassandra Oliver Moncure, was largely responsible for May 30 Being chosen. Of French origin, she may have chosen May 30 because in France this date was “The Day of the Ashes.” This French memorial day commemorated the return of Napoleon Bonaparte’s remains to France from St. Helena.

For the rest of “her” article, Oehlbeck returns to The History Channel: Today, Memorial Day is celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery with a ceremony in which a small American flag is placed on each grave. Also, it is customary for the president or vice-president to give a speech honoring the contributions of the dead and lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. About 5,000 people attend the ceremony annually.
Oehlbeck: Nationally, Memorial Day is celebrated at Arlington National Cemetery with a ceremony in which a small American flag is placed on each grave. Also, it is customary for the president or vice-president to give a speech honoring the contributions of the dead and lay a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. About 5,000 people attend the ceremony annually.

Oehlbeck purports to be a professional writer: “author of nonfiction books, articles, and essays…” and she runs her own Web site to feature her local-color and history pieces. Today’s article suggests that the professional is not always professinal about giving credit to her sources and that she’s liberal with the cut-and-paste feature of her computer.

When You Steal Something, Tell Us Where it Came From
And over on page 11, local businesman Robert Dunaway “submits” an article about “The Bicycle — a clean, green, perfect machine.” Old Word Wolf gives him credit for not putting a real byline on the top of the article.

However, he fails to recognize anywhere in the piece that it originally appeared on http://penncycle.com/page.cfm?PageID=952 and it’s a piece of corporate writing from start to finish.

OWW is sure Penn Cycle is happy to promote biking and may even not mind the outright theft of its article. But newspaper readers expect better. If you steal something, say where you got it.

It’s Friday and you’re a reporter for America’s Best Community Daily. Page designers need 12 inches for the bottom of Saturday’s local front. It’s too hot to leave the air-conditioned office. It’s too late in the day to make any phone calls. What’s a reporter to do?

Easy. You click on the electronic in-basket, and voila! A decently written news release from the state’s commissioner of consumer services about how dry things are pops up on the screen.

Ctl+C From the electronic in-basket: Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles Bronson is urging people across the state to be extremely cautious about their outdoor activities this weekend to prevent new wildfires from occurring.
Ctl+V: “Reporter’s” version: Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner Charles H. Bronson wants Floridians to be cautious about their outdoor activities this weekend to prevent new wildfires from occurring.

Ctl+C: From the electronic in-basket: “People don’t realize how many fires are started by a spark from a piece of equipment outdoors,” Bronson said in a statement. “Right now, the conditions are such that the public needs to be extremely cautious with equipment, with outdoor barbecues and remember not to throw lit materials out the car window.”
Ctl+V: “Reporter’s” version: “People don’t realize how many fires are started by a spark from a piece of equipment outdoors,” Bronson said in a statement. “Right now, the conditions are such that the public needs to be extremely cautious with equipment, with outdoor barbecues and remember not to throw lit materials out the car window.”

Ctl+C From the electronic in-basket: Bronson is also advising people to forego any yard waste burning until the weather conditions improve. Six counties have instituted burn bans, but Bronson says conditions are not good for yard waste burning in any area of the state.
Ctl+V “Reporter:” Bronson also advises people to not burn yard waste until dry conditions improve. Six counties have instituted burn bans, but Bronson says conditions are not good for yard-waste burning in any area of the state.
[...]

Ctl+C Electronic in-basket: “Even if some parts of Florida are fortunate enough to get some rain this weekend, it won’t be enough to eliminate the danger,” Bronson said. “We are still in a deficit rainfall situation and there is a lot of dried out vegetation which acts as a fuel for fires. Also, the same storms that may bring rain will also bring strong winds as well which is real problem for firefighters.”
Ctl+V “Reporter:” “Even if some parts of Florida are fortunate enough to get some rain this weekend, it won’t be enough to eliminate the danger,” Bronson said. “We are still in a deficit rainfall situation and there is a lot of dried out vegetation which acts as a fuel for fires. Also, the same storms that may bring rain will also bring strong winds as well which is real problem for firefighters.”

“The Watermelon Festival, an annual event in Arcadia for 23 years, raises the consciousness and pride of one of DeSoto County’s most important crops.”

There’s no watermelon like a proud watermelon! And a proud watermelon with its consciousness raised is a thing to behold!

Thanks to John Lawhorne for today’s giggle.

When we copy the words or ideas we found on someone’s Web site and fail to acknowledge the source, it’s called plagiarism.

Starting in about the 10th grade, Florida language-arts teachers school students in two important writing skills. The first is paraphrasing, that is, expressing ideas we read about in our own words. The second is citing the source of the ideas we paraphrase.

Ethical journalists and editors practice these skills on a daily basis. Either they use quotation marks, quote someone word for word and append a little tag at the end along the lines of “Smith said” or “according to a press release from Senator Windbag’s office,” or some such. Or, they skip the quotation marks and put the news into their own words – paraphrasing that’s usually shorter, clearer and less ambiguous than the original (although there are numerous exceptions to this ideal).

Even when the information is paraphrased, ethical journalists and conscientious reporters still say “Jones said,” and “according to police reports.” They cite their sources.

Somewhat complicating this clear edict are publicity departments that want to help an organization get out the word about worthy activities. Generally, PR folks are happy to have local organizers use prepared material. They love to see their upbeat words folded into locally produced news stories and notices.

What the locals don’t get is that the standards of journalism, fairness, and Miss Crabtree’s 10th grade language arts class still require an acknowledgement of those PR sources. To do otherwise is to lie about who wrote the material – and to hide from the reader important information about the possible motives of the information provider.

As it happens, there’s a perfect example of this lie in the morning DeSoto Sun. Cherie A. Hollingsworth, the DeSoto County 4-H extension program assistant, has placed her byline on top of a news item about a public speaking contest for club members. She did a yeoman’s job of getting in all the local names of the contestants, judges, and topics.

But she blew it with the three paragraphs she tacked onto to her locally assembled copy:

Hollingsworth claims that she wrote: Florida 4-H is proud to offer the annual 4-H Tropicana public speaking contest. Working with youth in grades four to six, this contest helps thousands of young people annually learn how to write and deliver a speech. More than 150,000 young people in more than 50 Florida counties at this grade-level have participated.

Tropicana has sponsored the contest since 1969 and provides classroom materials for teachers, certificates of participation, medallions for school winners, trophies for county winners, summer camp scholarships and Tropicana orange-juice refreshments for county contests. Close to 2 million students have participated in this program since its beginning.
Tropicana Products, a division of PepsiCo Inc., is the leading producer and marketer of branded fruit juices.

In fact, Hollingsworth copied “boilerplate paragraphs,” so called because they are standardized wording repeated without changing a comma in scores of prepared news releases. Hollingsworth probably found the copy at the “news and information page” of the Florida 4-H Web site describing the contest. Here’s the Web site version:

Florida 4-H is very proud of the 4-H/Tropicana Public Speaking Contest. Working with youth in grades 4-6, this contest helps thousands of young people annually learn how to write and deliver a speech. More than 150,000 young people in over 50 Florida counties in grades 4-6 participated in the contest last year

Tropicana has sponsored the contest since 1969 and provides classroom materials for teachers, certificates of participation, medallions for school winners, trophies for county winners, summer camp scholarships and Tropicana orange juice refreshments for county contests. Close to 2 million students have participated in this program since its beginning.
Tropicana Products, Inc., a division of PepsiCo, Inc., is the leading producer and marketer of branded fruit juices.

Notice the little advertisement, for PepsiCo?

Hollingsworth is not a trained journalist and is probably oblivious to the long, slanted shadow the line casts over the whole effort. A professional reporter would have paraphrased the information in all three paragraphs and clearly attributed the information (cited the source), ending on a note something along the lines of “Pepsi Co. is the parent company of Tropicana Products, which provided classroom materials and prizes for the contest as a publicity effort in 50 Florida counties.”

A real newspaper editor or publisher concerned with his or her newspaper’s reputation for objectivity would never have allowed the PR department’s copy to leave the desk.

Hollingsworth played right into the hands of the corporate PR machine – and she plagiarized to win the honor.

Here’s an interesting update on the May 9 blog post, “Skeptical Copy Editors Overlooked This One.”

Old Word Wolf wrote to offer up FBI data about child predators lurking on the Internet back in the early 1990’s, and the reporter, Pam Staik, responded: “The person named Alicia, as stated in the article, is believed by the State Attorney’s office to be the first known victim of a child predator. This information was repeatedly stated in the presentation, and it was backed by a national research firm. I am sorry that you believe the statement was misleading, but I wrote everything in that article based on the facts given to me – as did at least four other media news groups who also reported the same information.”

So, here we have a reporter who would rather defend the indefensible than check out the facts. Is Old Word Wolf being mean to point out that this is not in the best tradition of journalism?

This week’s Lake Placid Journal’s edition of Feeling Fit features a story too good to be true. For one thing, it’s quackery, plain and simple, promoted by a “master herbalist” who needs to recoup her $1800 investment in a foot-bath detoxifier from gullible spa-goers.

But more important, the Winter Haven quack has apparently plagiarized her story. The article is nearly identical to a 2006 posting by a South Carolina spa quack (scroll down about five entries). Here’s the side-by-side comparison.

Corlis Johnson of Winter Haven, writes her own top to the article, but quickly moves in her second paragraph to a nearly perfect copy of a colleague in quackery from North Carolina:
xxxxxxxxxxxxx Tired of feeling tired?
Today, it’s our good fortune to live in an age in which remarkable advances in medicine are giving us potent new tools to help us live longer healthier lives. As a pharmacist specializing in alternative treatments. I am always seeking new ways to help my clients improve their health. One new technology that I am excited about is Bio-Electric Stimulating Technique. It works to help your body strengthen and balance itself, recharging your body’s “battery.”

Here’s where the copy cat enters. Our Winter Haven quack writes:
xxxThe unit works through the most basic and plentiful substance in your body — water! xxxThe human body is approximately 80 percent water.
xxxWater is an excellent conductor of electricity. The human body functions off of electromagnetic signals.
xxxThe brain sends signals to each part of the body and back to the brain. When cells have enough energy they are able to function properly. The new Bioelectric Stimulating technique uses an Energy Foot Spa that electrically charges water in a foot bath.
xxxThe water (which your feet soak in) charges your body which allows the body to absorb vital energy on a cellular level, creating cell balance.

And the North Carolina quack wrote some two years ago:
xxxThe unit works through the most basic and plentiful substance in your body: water! xxxThe human body is approximately 80% water. Water is an excellent conductor of electricity. The human body functions off of electro-magnetic signals. The brain sends signals to each part of the body and back to the brain. When cells have enough energy they are able to function properly. The Energy Foot Spa charges the water and the water (which your feet soak in) charges your body. This allows the body to absorb vital energy on a cellular level, creating cell balance.

Winter Haven Quack:
xxOnce the body receives the energy, the body starts detoxing on its own. This may happen through the feet while in the bath, or through the urinary system, bowels and skin. As the Energy Foot Spa starts detoxifying and energizing on the cellular level, the body is able to release waste products more readily.
xxxThe unit charges the water and the water charges the entire body. Similar to a car battery that charges a car, the human body greatly benefits from being re-charged.

North Carolina Quack:
xxOnce the body receives the energy, the body starts detoxing on its own. This may happen through the feet while in the bath, or through the urinary system, bowels and skin. As the Energy Foot Spa starts detoxifying and energizing the system on a cellular level, the body is able to release waste products more readily.

xxxThe Aqua Chi unit charges the water and the water (in which your feet are soaking) charges your entire body!. Similar to a car battery that charges a car, the human body greatly benefits from being re-charged.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxWhat to expect
Winter Haven Quack:
xxxAn energy foot bath is a natural health modality that may help you eliminate toxins and increase your overall sense of health and well-being.
North Carolina Quack:
xxxIn just 35 minutes, the Aqua Chi unit may energize cells, may balance and strengthen the body to eliminate toxins and may increase your overall sense of health and well-being.
At this point, Winter Haven Quack departs from the script and skips the warnings about not treating clients who wear a pacemaker, might be pregnant, has had an organ transplant or takes prescription blood thinners. Instead, Winter Haven Quack prescribes the device for low energy, depression, anxiety, headaches, blood pressure, joint pain, insomnia, menopausal symptoms, muscular pain, constipation, skin conditions and indigestion.

xxxAnd just so we know, she explains away the murky water and gives us some hokus pokus about the body absorbing energy from the water:
xxxAt the end of an energizing foot spa treatment, the footbath will always be discolored. Much of this discoloration is due to the minerals in the water or the type of sea salt that is being used in the foot bath, and some of it may be due to the body releasing toxins from your skin into the water. The color changes will vary between clients and sessions.
xxxThe important thing is to realize that the machine itself is not pulling things out of the body, rather while your body absorbs the energy in the water it is absorbing vital energy on cellular level. Once the body receives the energy, it starts detoxing on its own. The results can be dramatic — eliminating the toxins and giving you more energy and vitality
Corlis Johnson is a holistic pharmacist, master herbalist, nutritionist, and weight loss
specialist. She owns My Natures Delight Natural Foods and Herb Shop at 3015 Cypress Gardens Rd., Winter Haven.

Miss Media isn’t going to take the time or effort to debunk the idea that the body is absorbing “vital energy” on a “cellular level” from a salty foot wash and all the devolves from there. Maybe later.