Ditto for other papers writing about this contretemps.
Ditto for the StartleGram trying to pull the same trick with other small town newspapers.
"Don't become part of the story" is a baseline tenet of journalism. It means not only don't make yourself part of your own story, but also don't make yourself part of someone else's story.
At the same time, it SHOULD mean not trying to make another journalist a part of your story.
Either Mr. Bach wasn't taught better in J-school, wasn't coached better in Cowtown or previous stops — or else an editor told him to ask. None of the above comes off very well.
Per his bio at the StartleGram (and at the Trib) he should know better.
Knowing the timetable, he apparently called me AFTER he talked to the locals, which appears to have been by personal drop-in, and without a heads-up in advance.
Sidebar: The other side/round two of the story about the contretemps has dropped. Not posting, not linking.
Sidebar two: This is another reason I'm glad my current newspapers have neither website nor social media presence.
(I once mentioned the name of a reporter from another paper in a story. Ironically, she was at the StartleGram. But, that's because the PR mouthpiece for Voluntary Purchasing Groups in Bonham, Texas mentioned her name in a direct quote. She got pissed when she heard it. But? This happens all the time, at least today. PR spox and politicos call out individual reporters by name, not all the time, but not 100 percent infrequently, either.)
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Part two: There's weird things about the Startlegram's website. Most online media, whether web versions of print newspapers and magazines, or other things, you click on an author's name and it takes you to a mini-bio page with a list of other stories. Not the Startlegram. That's an email address link. Weird.
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