Marney Rich Keenan: Freeloader (col.. on DY doesn't name it)

Good news: The 'Moving back to Detroit...maybe' thread started March 27 by 'El Jimbo' inspires an upbeat DetNews column today.

Not so good: Non-forumers [[or anyone inattentive here) have no clue what "local Internet forum" Marney quotes in 8 of her 16 paragraphs.

I sent this note to mkeenan@detnews.com:

Today's fine column is undercut by the absence of source acknowledgement.

The vibrant "e-town square" of proud, engaged Detroiters at DetroitYes!, founded and administered by visual artist Lowell Boileau, deserves acknowledgement . . . particularly when it generates a column's worth of material.

Withholding credit seems unfair and disrespectful.

I'll share any reply unless asked not to.

Apparently writing for the News is as easy as sitting around all day and surfing the Web. Nice work if you can get it.

Ms. Keenan writes a thoughtful column on a topic important to countless DYers and gets drilled for her trouble. Really nice. It was intended as a weekly human interest column, not a highly researched PhD dissertation. Why should DY need credit or attribution? The old school assumption of one our "august" posters that she must be lazy if she didn't leave her desk to write the peace is a little quaint too. Is there any irony to be found in the contrast between the friendliness and community spirit that she proudly wrote about and the mean spiritedness of some in this thread?

Well, in the world of journalism, if they don't mention your media, it means they see you as a competitor. And, actually, there is a lot more pure gold information and less hateful chatter here than on the dailies' sites. Take it as a badge of honor; they see us as competition! :)

I'll just add that the Coldplay song [["Lost") she references and quotes as a possible battle cry was actually conceived while the band was touring in Detroit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost!_[[Coldplay_song)

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Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

they see us as competition! :)

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That notion crossed my mind, too, DN. Though it seems a stretch, might be a factor indeed.

As for "gets drilled" and "mean spiritedness," Swingline, neither was intent of original post. I just thought "at DetroitYes.com" would have been fairer than "at a local Internet forum." Shorter, too.

It's called a hat tip because it's a polite gesture. [[Not meant in a mean-spirited way. No one is getting drilled here.:))

Wow! I'm a celebrity of sorts! I should get a shirt that say, "I'm big on the Internet".

Seriously though. That's pretty neat and I thought it was a pretty fair representation of what was talked about in that thread. Now I see some people want to bring her down a bit because maybe she didn't do the best job of getting all the who, what, when, where, why items into the column, but with so many obstacles against Detroit's public perception even in the local media, why would you tear here down when it was so well intended?

Thank you, Marney for the recognition and putting some positive press for Detroit in our local paper.

Good article, though I'm not 100% sure Coldplay should do our anthem.

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Originally Posted by RealityCheck

That notion crossed my mind, too, DN. Though it seems a stretch, might be a factor indeed.

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Actually, DY is competition for them as far as I'm concerned. I get much of my local news here and usually early than the dailies get it.

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Originally Posted by Detroitnerd

Well, in the world of journalism, if they don't mention your media, it means they see you as a competitor. And, actually, there is a lot more pure gold information and less hateful chatter here than on the dailies' sites. Take it as a badge of honor; they see us as competition! :)

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That's exactly what I thought. Nothing wildly speculative about it either. This is a hyperlocal site with substantial reach and dedicated visitors. DY exemplifies the issues dailies across the country are facing. We know some of their writers and editors lurk and sometimes post here. I'm sure it's a sore point for some over there.

They have added an emphatic reference to DY to the top of the article. "This column should have stated that the online conversation took place on Detroityes.com." In a red box. So in all fairness, ...

Also, the problem of how we as a society finance professional journalism - the fourth estate! - going forward is as yet unsolved. In case any of you folks are reading this thread, your work is appreciated.

The column is legitimate enough. You could file it under positive local buzz, along with that "Reasons to Live in Detroit" column a while back.

El Jimbo.
He's Famous.
On the Internet.
In Detroit.

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Originally Posted by fryar

El Jimbo.
He's Famous.
On the Internet.
In Detroit.

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Which is good enough for me.