SNN now officially using Creative Loafing as its primary source for Sarasota news, without crediting us, of course
May 29th, 2009 by Cooper Levey-Baker in Editor's Desk, News, Politics, Sarasota-Manatee
Notice any similarities? The left image is a screenshot of B-roll footage from a two-minute SNN feature by Jessica Jordan that ran this morning; the left is drawn from this week’s Creative Loafing cover story, scripted by Staff Writer Tim Sukits. And the parallels between the two pieces hardly end there.
Both begin with references to the high number of “For Lease” signs in empty windows around town:
- CL: “Driving around Sarasota-Manatee, the bright yellow ‘For Lease’ signs are impossible to miss; the placards dot empty windows north and south, east and west.”
- SNN: “‘For Lease’ signs and empty store windows are hard to miss when you’re driving through downtown Sarasota.”
Both also cite a couple of the same stats:
- CL: “The Sarasota Herald-Tribune reports that Sarasota County saw a 9 percent drop in the total number of businesses in the 2007-2008 fiscal year.”
- SNN: “Sarasota County saw a 9 percent drop in the total number of businesses last year.”
And:
- CL: “The Bradenton Herald reported recently that delinquency rates and defaults on office and retail buildings have more than doubled in the past six months, and that, combined, Sarasota and Manatee counties currently possess over 1.7 million square feet of empty retail space.”
- SNN: “The Bradenton Herald says that, combined, Sarasota and Manatee counties possess nearly 2 million square feet of empty retail space.”
Now, we see nothing wrong with SNN reporting on the same phenomenon we covered. The more word that gets out about the dire straits in which local retailers and restaurants are finding themselves, the better. And it’s not like Creative Loafing came up with all its own numbers. As you can read, we cited research done by both the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and the Bradenton Herald in our story. Did SNN return the courtesy, and even once mention Creative Loafing’s reporting in its piece? Of course not. SNN, we expect an apology. This is some bullshit.
May 29th, 2009 at 10:33 am
I feel used.
May 29th, 2009 at 10:39 am
Point well taken. If a news-gathering organization is going to lift information wholesale from another news-gathering organization, it needs to say so (”Creative Loafing reports that …”)SNN’s story is not reportage; at best it’s regurgitation.
May 29th, 2009 at 9:26 pm
I would never have done that to you. I would have stolen your ideas…but would have given you credit.
May 30th, 2009 at 4:26 pm
First off I am against plagarism but I think you are reading a little too much into this.
I’ve seen the story on snn and I’ve read yours.
The topic is the same but you talked with different people. You both used facts in the story from the herald tribune and Bradenton herald. You credited both sources in your story. She gave the Bradenton herald a credit but she didn’t have to for the tribune because they are partners that share info. The first quote would be the most obvious but that would be what an average person would say if they saw things closing on main street.
As for the photo…how many places in Sarasota have boards and signs up? It was the obvious place to shoot to tell the story.
I like creative loafing but for the satire. I don’t look for hard news on that publication. Especially because the writers are so opinionated. I mean come on creative loafing actually swear in the articles. I’m not offended by it. It’s just swearing only gets you a certain audience.
June 1st, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Even if it were the pictures alone taken from CL, that is still lifting the work of someone else. It doesn’t hurt to state where the information came from and it makes for good relationships in business. Plus, it could open a door for sharing information and both parties win.
July 29th, 2009 at 2:34 pm
[...] corners,” but how about a little acknowledgement coming our way? SRQ, we expect an apology. This is some bullshit. Bookmark [...]
August 28th, 2009 at 3:30 pm
ohhhhhh creative loafing is a newspaper…..ohhh too bad washington post was a newspaper first.
Stupid.
stories will always be similiar….its up to you to dig a little deeper than just “best bars in town” or “economy bad in sarasota”