New York Shitty Day Starter: Two Week Old News On A Blog = New York Post “News”

September 1, 2009 by
Filed under: 11211, Asshole, Criminal Activity, Plagiarism, Williamsburg, Williamsburg Brooklyn 

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On August 19, 2009 I wrote a little post about Cutting Edge Fitness on my “blog”. It was at the behest of a concerned citizen and started like this:

Hi Miss Heather,

I enjoy reading your blog from time-to-time and especially appreciate the news on the developments around the neighborhood.

I’d like to share with you some information about a building on the Southside, in hopes that it can get out to others who deserve to know. So, here goes:

The building has a retail space in the bottom which is currently owned by the developer and being rented to a John Suarez, who is running it as a gym, called Cutting Edge.

Well, there are many problems here:

1) The space isn’t zoned to be a gym
2) He is occupying space in the basement and using it for classes and workout space when it is only supposed to be used as storage
3) There’s no proper emergency exit from the basement
4)He’s illegally (i.e., with no work permit) installing showers/bathrooms in the basement

The biggest problem of all is that John Suarez has been forbidden by the Attorney General to ever operate a gym. A few years back he had advertised the opening of a new gym in the neighborhood, called Core Health and Fitness. He never opened the gym, even after taking people’s money. He was ordered to pay back $172,000 in restitution, but I know for a fact (a neighbor was a victim of the scam) that people did not get their money back.

You can read my post in its entirety by clicking here. After I hit the “publish” button, August 19, I turned to the Mister and said:

I lay odds 80% in favor of this being ripped off by the “print media”. I’d give it 90% except this actually helps people.

On August 20, 2009 my tome was linked to by:

On August 23 I took up the matter with Queens Crap and Forgotten NY. We agreed this item would be cribbed— but by whom? My knee jerk reaction was the New York Post. And as of August 31, 2009 my prognostication came to pass.

The Post one-upped my lowly blogger person by sending out a professional “photographer” to document said premises (which I had done already); he was assaulted by Mr. Suarez. I learned about this via Gothamist:

gothamist

And here’s a here’s a slice of the Post’s take:

GYMRAT

Compare my fact-finding with Ms. Sutherland’s and Mr. Ginsberg’s “scoop”: they dovetail. I was more specific (because my source and I did our research). But am I cited? Of course not. Amber and Alex claimed this discovery as their own.

Yesterday’s (or two week old) news— gleaned from blogs— with ample sensationalism thrown in is the Post’s modus operandi. If the chronic practice of “print journalists” plagiarizing “bloggers” and touting their (my) fact-finding as their own bothers you, dear readers, you can contact Alex Ginsberg at:

alex (dot) ginsberg (at) nypost (dot) com

Miss Heather

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Comments

9 Comments on New York Shitty Day Starter: Two Week Old News On A Blog = New York Post “News”

  1. helen of destroy on Tue, 1st Sep 2009 11:23 am

    2. i went to college with Amber Sutherland, haha…would have expected her to be above plagiarizing “unsuspecting” bloggers, but i guess the Post will wear down anyone’s journalistic integrity eventually. SCOOP FAIL.

  2. eric the beehivehairdresser on Wed, 2nd Sep 2009 11:54 am

    3. The NY Post has done this to me as well.

    On 01/08/09 I wrote a post about rust being visible at Citi Field that was picked up left and right all over the place. A couple of days later on 01/12/2009 the NY Post “broke” the story, albeit without even trekking out to the stadium to photograph the rust.

    The only thing good about the Post is shredding it up and using it for compost.

  3. aginsberg on Wed, 2nd Sep 2009 8:50 pm

    4. Miss Heather,

    Post policy prevented me from crediting you in print. Allow me to do so now. You did a fantastic reporting job. All I had to do was follow your steps (and make a few extra phone calls).

    I won’t discuss at length the policy of not crediting blogs (or anyone else). I’ll just briefly explain that as long as we can independently verify every bit of info, we don’t credit.

    You will find that the Daily News observes the same policy, but the Times does not. (They often write an explanatory phrase like, ‘The investigation into Mr. Spitzer was first reported in the New York Post.’ That’s not a real one. I just made it up. Although I would note that another Times policy would prevent them from actually printing the name of your blog, presenting them with an unresolvable conflict between two inflexible rules.)

    Looking forward to “amplifying” more of your good work in the future.

    Alex

  4. missheather on Wed, 2nd Sep 2009 8:56 pm

    5. Thank you— I think. 😉

    You wrote: You will find that the Daily News observes the same policy, but the Times does not. (They often write an explanatory phrase like, ‘The investigation into Mr. Spitzer was first reported in the New York Post.’ That’s not a real one. I just made it up. Although I would note that another Times policy would prevent them from actually printing the name of your blog, presenting them with an unresolvable conflict between two inflexible rules.)

    It’s interesting that you mention this as I have set up a mirror site with a less “objectionable” url for just this reason: http://www.thatgreenpointblog.com

  5. bitchcakes on Wed, 2nd Sep 2009 10:21 pm

    6. That’s nuts!! – from the gym itself, to the guy’s past, to the assault on the photographer, then the Post stealing your story with no credit. It seems Mr Ginsberg was sincere enough in his comment, but I don’t understand that policy or why the Post can’t link to your alias site or mention your name when they become aware of a story as a result of your blog. That doesn’t seem right to me.

  6. New York Post prohibits crediting blogs for scoops » Nieman Journalism Lab on Fri, 4th Sep 2009 10:55 am

    7. […] herself Miss Heather. “Post policy prevented me from crediting you in print,” Ginsberg wrote in a gracious comment on the blog. “Allow me to do so now. You did a fantastic reporting job. […]

  7. FAIR Blog » Blog Archive » NY Post Steals From, Refuses to Credit Bloggers on Sat, 5th Sep 2009 8:46 pm

    8. […] who calls herself Miss Heather. "Post policy prevented me from crediting you in print," Ginsberg wrote in a gracious comment on the blog. "Allow me to do so now. You did a fantastic reporting job. All I […]

  8. Des journaux sans scrupules envers les blogueurs | Citoyen Michel on Sun, 6th Sep 2009 12:08 pm

    9. […] sur le blogue de Miss Heather, a d’ailleurs pris la peine de lui expliquer dans un commentaire pourquoi il ne l’avait pas citée: The Post prohibits crediting blogs and other competitors […]

  9. NY Post Steals From, Refuses to Credit Bloggers « Boniknik on Wed, 9th Sep 2009 6:38 am

    10. […] herself Miss Heather. “Post policy prevented me from crediting you in print,” Ginsberg wrote in a gracious comment on the blog. “Allow me to do so now. You did a fantastic reporting job. […]

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