Dear dimwit on the phone

And the problem with that is that if it's just one day and they run their JV cheer photos and they're out the door, they won't be around to answer the phone calls from the freshman and Pop Warner team cheer moms who want their photos in the paper too.

"But you ran East Podunk JV cheer photos?!?"

"No mam, that was the East Podunk JV cheer mom ... how about I give you her number and you can call her to register your complaint?"

Cheer mom catfights? Would we cover that?

 

Dear editor of one of our sister papers,
Thanks for taking one of my state cross country recaps and running it in your paper -- word for word, quote for damn quote -- and leaving my name off of it.

Again.

This isn't the first time I've had to call you out on taking my stuff and not giving me credit -- thus making it look like you were the one who wrote the story when, in fact, you weren't at the state meet Saturday.

I know we have an "agreement" in place that you can use our stuff whenever you need it, but that agreement doesn't say "take stories and not give writer proper credit" -- like you did my wrestling preview a few years ago (editor wrote her own lead and slapped her name at the top, but the entire story was word for word mine ...).

I don't know why it's so hard for you guys to give credit where and when it's due ...

KY

 

We have a story "sharing" agreement and this happens to us often. It's even worse when they hack the byline and put the general Podunk Press Staff Report at the top.

 

Yes, in this environment it is good to be able to share resources with sister papers, especially during playoff time, but people need to be sure the right bylines are being placed.

 

I had the opposite problem a while back (Don't remember if I shared it here or not) where I properly credited the newspaper that broke a story I had been covering and, when our Northern sister paper took it, they left my byline on but took the crediting off, making it seem like I had broke the story myself.

It pissed me off so much that I emailed the editor of our sister paper and demanded they fix it on their website. They refused so I cut all ties with their news staff and wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire.

(It doesn't help that with the exception of about four of their staff members I dislike everyone that works there).

 

I checked their website last night and saw the story posted. I only got one quote from the two kids the sister paper cared about, but they used my quotes without attribution. Pissed me off even more when I saw on their front page today with no Podunk News Service byline or anything.

The first time it happened, I was furious. But this editor, for whatever reason, always has a hard time putting my name on a story I've written that she uses. If she uses another writer's work, she has no issue leaving their name on it. I don't know what her deal is, and my bosses really haven't been much help with it.

 

Dear woman who wants her kid's hockey results in the paper,

If you don't at least give me the score of the game, it's not news. Buy a fucking ad.

 

Dear whoever makes the money-spending decisions here at the Podunk Press:

Do you think it's wise to give away what accounts for about the salary of one full-time staffer through a contest for readers while laying off multiple employees and saying you can't afford them?

 

Uh, what?

 

Agreed. Spike, clarify please.

 

As is our tradition ... only if they are provably and demonstratively hot.

 

The paper is having a contest in which readers can win money...a pretty good chunk...about equal to a yearly salary of someone that works at the paper. Yet, just a few months ago, they made a batch of cuts citing money issues.