Saturday, July 30, 2016

Joplin Globe follows KOAM lead on Blasters story

Using an approach it has taken in the past, the Joplin Globe is once again taking a story that was broken by another news outlet, waited several days, then published it prominently, with little new information, making it appear that the Globe did the investigative work.

Several times in the past, that approach has been taken when original reporting was done by the Turner Report, then several days later appeared on page one of the Globe with only a few new facts or quotes added.

This time, and it is not the first time for this to happen, the Globe's story came as a result of investigative reporting by KOAM's Jordan Aubey.

In an article that was published online two hours ago, the Globe details the growing problems between the City of Joplin and the Joplin Blasters.

The e-mails used by the Globe are the same ones obtained by Aubey through a Sunshine Law request and cover such areas as the rumors that the Blasters are going to skip town and problems with the maintenance of Joe Becker Stadium.

The article does contains some minor points that were not made during Aubey's report.

I should mention that in no way am I saying that Globe reporters have committed plagiarism. That is not the case. Facts can't be copyrighted, but in these cases the Globe is taking important stories from other news sources, and without adding information that breaks new ground, packaging it as its page one story.

Of course, that is not the only approach the Globe has used with stories from other news outlets. Many times major stories have been slanted to provide a version that is more favorable to Globe officials' friends.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

All there news is 3 days old that is the reason i buy it anymore

Anonymous said...

Levi Payton, asleep at the switch. He loves the play-by-play story, which allows him to sit in the press box.

Steve Holmes said...

The timing of the story is suspicious, but it is possible the Globe made a records request about the same time KOAM did. I'm sure they got wind of the same rumor I heard about the city contacting other teams.

It would be interesting to see how a Pecos League team would fare in Joplin. Would people give it a chance after disillusionment with the Blasters? This year, the league expanded eastward into Great Bend, Salina and Topeka. I'm guessing the quality of play is a big step down from the American Association, Joplin's current league. Smaller cities. Older parks (which, to me, means more charm, but the casual fan likes the amenities of the new places). Joplin could succeed by being the big fish in a smaller pond.

Steve Holmes said...

7:10, don't blame Levi. This isn't his beat. The city's political reporter wrote the story. Also, the reporter's power over what to cover and how to cover it is limited by his editor. I've wondered over the past three years how many of the Globe's omissions have been the fault of the writers and how much they are bright people, wanting to tell more than they have, but muzzled by an editor.

Anonymous said...

The Globe has sucked for a very long time.....since the Chiado-Simpson era.

It's God awful.

Anonymous said...

You have an Editor that is a JOKE! Carol you know you are nothing more than a second rate wannabe column writer who could put two sentences together to save her life that made any sense.

Anonymous said...

Steve Holmes, there is such a thing as enterprising reporters. Reporters who smell good stories while covering their beats and wear their editors down until they agree to let them pursue these interesting topics. Sports play-by-play stories became passe a long time ago. No one cares about them except the players and the most hard-core fans. Another interesting story would be the seemingly hundreds of roster moves the Blasters have made this season.

Since you're a Payton apologist, how can you defend the fact that the Globe hasn't done a story on the Pecos League since it has been rumored that Joplin might join it? Who are the teams? Which one might likely move to Joplin? How big are the stadiums? What's the attendance like? What's the reputation of the league?