Thursday, November 06, 2008

Breaking: Times-Tribune sues Times Leader, accuses it of plagarizing dozens of obits

Exciting! "I've never seen such a vast and blatant example of plagiarism in my 40 years of journalism," Times-Tribune Managing Editor Larry Beaupre reports after the T-T sued the TL for cribbing Scranton obits for the TL's Scranton edition. The T-T sued the TL in Lackawanna County for unjust enrichment, fraud, etc. Good stuff.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

What's the big deal? The only thing that I see wrong is the fact that the TL didn't rewrite them. Every paper does rewrites. Beaupre is shocked. What a joke.

Anonymous said...

You're kidding, right? The TL copied, verbatim, content from the Times-Tribune. Indeed, the fact that the TL didn't even go through the exercise of rewriting them is what makes it plagiarism.

Anonymous said...

Do newspapers "exercise rewriting" AP stories? No. They don't. It's the same thing.

Anonymous said...

it's not the same thing, asshat. Newspapers pay to subscribe to the AP, and they give the AP -- specifically the AP reporter -- proper credit.

Anonymous said...

"It's the same thing?" 10:48, please take your tinfoil hat and go home.

Anonymous said...

This is funny. As a former TLer, it's entertaining to see them squirm.

Say what you will about Iseman/Walzer/Golas, but under their watch this wouldn't have happened.

Shows what happens when a news room no longer as a newsperson in charge....

Anonymous said...

9:49- No one is squirming, it's a joke.

Anonymous said...

Why would you say its a joke. They got sued. It's going to cost the TL money. And, even they technically are right, it does damage its reputation.

Tom Carten said...

Y'know, as someone who has been reading obits over the air for many years ... and, therefore, reads both the CV and the TL:

At least down this way, in the County of Luzerne, they are identical on the same day.

There4, nobody can be stealing from anybody and the original copy has to be coming from the Morticians.

Maybe it's different up in the County of Lack.

Anonymous said...

Didn't the TL admit they stole the obits? The entire case comes down to the wording of the legacy agreement - which doesn't give one the impression that:
a) They have a chance to win.
b) Perhaps Jen Marckini read the terms of agreement for Connor, in which case the lunatic translation of the rules for using obits becomes obvious.

Start writing the check Rich. This one is a softball. Idiots.

Anonymous said...

What part of non-commercial use don't TL people understand?

Anonymous said...

Carten, this is the first time I read you say something really stupid.

You've never been in a newsroom. "Morticians" fill our forms, some submit write ups.Either way they have to be throughly re-written and fact checked.

Also, some of the plagerized obits didn't come from morticians at all -- they were "family" obits, when a family comes into newsroom not knowing how obits are created, and a news clerk sits with them and goes through the orbit format. It can take up to an hour.

Cutting and pasting? 30 seconds.

Stay classy Times Leader!
Stay classy, Carten!

Anonymous said...

1-The TL does not accept obits from family.
2-The morticians do not fill out a form. They write the obit. The clerks edit and design the page.

Stay classy, douche bag.

Oh, and it would help if you knew were you were talking about.

Tom Carten said...

8:34 --

>>>Carten, this is the first time I read you say something really stupid.

Uh, I'm not sure if that's sort of a compliment or sort of an insult.

At least, thanks for letting me know that you've liked what I wrote in the past.

But the "stupid" part just isn't so.

>>>You've never been in a newsroom.

Of course I have, for years. But that's not relevant here. What's relevant is just comparing the CV/TL obits: they are identical on the same day. Obviously, there is a Higher Source (not to be confused with one's Higher Power) which writes them and then, according to the CV's daily printed policy, e-mails them directly to the paper.

Naturally, I don't know the TL's policy, but I think we can presume it's much the same: funeral director writes, sends, paper prints (possibly editing for space and/or style).

Anonymous said...

For once, Carten is right. There is no "form." There is no interview of the deceased person's family. It's from the "home." That's why the obits appear the same in the CV and TL. So now we could all stay classy.

Tom Carten said...

For once, Carten is right.

For once? For once??

Whadda mean, "for once"? C'mon; I'm right more than just for once. I've got really good opinions lots of times.

Sheesh. No respect. I feel like a CV reporter at a TL Christmas party. A WB firefighter at a Tom Leighton budget meeting. Sarah Palin being talked about on The Daily Show.

But thanks to 9:44 for backing me up that Mortimer the Mortician informs us that the Dearly Deceased is also survived by Mr. Whiskers, his beloved kitty, who brought him such comfort in his last days.

Anonymous said...

This whole fiasco could have been easily avoided for the TL was a little less lazy.
Why not simply look at the Scranton times one day, find out which funeral homes are placing obits there and call and that they fax the TL the obits too.
It's simple and honest. Wow, what a concept.

Anonymous said...

Once again, Carten and assorted goof-balls.
1. Several of the plagerized obits were not from funeral homes at all... they were "family obits," created by news clerks interviewing surviving family members for pertainent information.
2. The Scranton morticians said when contacted the NEVER sent the info to the TL and in fact, didn't want their obits in the "Wilkes-Barre paper." Several homes told the TL to stop.

Maybe the TL allows funeral directors to write copy for the paper, but, honestly, they aren't the best writer. Often they require extensive editing by the Scranton staffers, which can all be enjoyed in the Times Leader.

I guess broadcasters, like Cartman, who haven't done original reporting around here for more than a decade, don't see a problem with that.

Tom Carten said...

Sign it.

Anonymous said...

Actually, Carten may be the only guy in radio around here who ever gives credit for material he takes from the newspapers.
Fortunately, he's not making any money off it, as the Times Leader is (trying to do) by stealing from its competitor.
Knowing, and respecting, Carten's work as I do, makes me wonder why he's backing the TL in its theivery. What is that Tom, the 7th?

Tom Carten said...

I'm not backing the TL in anything, especially what they are doing in Scran'un. I'm restricting my comments to what is the practice down here in WB, where dual obits are the practice.

If the Scr/TL is stealing from the TT, then hang them by the balls of their IBM Selectric typewriters. (Nope; can't use that -- too dated.) Then make them use disappearing ink on their press. May they be run over by a fleet of Shamrock delivery trucks.

And may God clean their dirty souls by having all the Holy Virgins in Heaven give them a golden shower.

Have I made my position clear?

:)

Anonymous said...

nope, just arrogant. Really, really arrogant.
And, not too bright.
But that's ok, you think you're smart. So just stay dumb and happy.

Anonymous said...

moncler
yeezy 350
golden goose slide
supreme clothing
air jordan
hermes handbags
kyrie irving shoes
off white
giannis shoes
nike kyrie 5