Charlie LeDuff borrows a story

**RO_Resident** · April-02-09, 04:04 PM

Are the coons being raised for pets or meat?

**gnome** · April-02-09, 04:48 PM

Like I said, Dex, life is complicated. It is filled with a thousand distractions, urgencies, and requirements. You need to cleanse yourself of the terrible Charlie LeDuff burden. It is weighing down your soul.

If you don't like him, just stop reading. No more parsing sentences. No more having to augur meaning from dependent clauses and literary flourishes. Less pressure on the ol aorta. You'll be happier, and less prone to leaving this world with a frown on your face. And as far as calling me out for being some sycophant, so be it. I like reading his work, I like the way he crafts his stories and for the most part I like his OHenry touch. I also like Norman Rockwell, Sabretts, BumpyCake and my '72 Pinto. None of them are standouts in their categories but I like them. So sue me. Belittle me. Call me whatever you want. I think LeDuff adds needed journalistic color to a beige town. If you don't like him, fine. I understand people have different tastes and I don't hold your cretinistic sensibilities against you. That would be unkind.

dexterferry · April-02-09, 04:51 PM

wow gnome, you sure are condescending for someone with one foot up on the cracker barrel.

whether you "like" him is irrelevant. the issue is the growing pile of evidence impugning his integrity as a journalist.

**rjk** · April-02-09, 05:03 PM

Originally Posted by Lonyo exit

Rjk - So he's never heard of Metro Times, despite being written about in it and interviewed by them. Uh, ok brown noser.

No, I stated that "I wonder" if he had ever heard of the MT. I think I've read it a few times so I had no idea he was interviewed by them.

It's funny how some of you are acting as if the MT is the equivalent of the Detroit Free Press in relationship to the Detroit News.

**oldredfordette** · April-02-09, 08:21 PM

rjk, get a grip. The Metro Times is very well known, is a prominent local paper, and if you've only read it once or twice, you should stretch yourself a bit.

Many good journalists have passed through there, including several members of this forum, and many good journalists remain.

Go ahead and love LeDuff. Goody for you.

**eastsidechris** · April-02-09, 08:41 PM

Vigotte's, on Harper and Kensington, occasionally advertises that "We sell coons" in their window. I've never been tempted to sample one, but my uncle--who is from Missouri--gave me the same advice that the guy in the article gives: make sure when you buy 'raccoon' that the paw is left on so that way you know for sure that it's coon meat you're eating.

**mauser** · April-03-09, 08:26 AM

im wondering what Stikine thinks of Charlies masterful appropriation of somebody elses work.

**Lonyo exit** · April-03-09, 08:45 AM

Turns out if he's not stealing from others, he's rewriting something he wrote about another coon guy years ago. I guess they're all the same, eh Charlie?

http://www.jossip.com/pulitzer-prize...self-20090402/

**cloud_wall** · April-03-09, 09:52 AM

Originally Posted by BShea

I know when I write something unique in Crain's, it's going to be seen only by something like 60,000 readers potentially, out of millions. So if some other pub writes about it, I'm not going to cry plagiarism.

Bill says it best and he ought to know. LeDuff's past sins are well-documented. This does not compare. What you are all saying, apparently, is that this incredibly interesting character does not deserve to be the subject of more than one story. The fact that the details are same in each shows that the reporters did their jobs...Charlie's mention of a .22 caliber rifle is not some sinister sign that he's slipping into plagiarism. Who, what, when, where, why...they each covered their bases. I'm glad I got to hear about the story, and I wouldn't have if LeDuff hadn't written it.

**Gianni** · April-03-09, 10:12 AM

Originally Posted by Reality_Check

Each writer accompanied CoonMan on a hunt, saw him and the hounds do essentially the same thing with the same firearm, and described it.

There is nothing in either piece that says or suggests that the writer accompanied the Coon Man on a hunt. Plus immediately following the passage about the dogs that he lifted from the MT, LeDuff writes, "A true outdoorsman, Beasley refuses to disclose his hunting grounds." So obviously the writer did not go hunting with him unless he were blindfolded.

There is also at least one glaring inaccuracy in the LeDuff piece:

"A coyote was snared two years ago roaming the Federal Court House downtown."

That's not only wrong [[the coyote was caught outside roaming the streets somewhere in the neighborhood of the Federal Courthouse), it is obviously wrong. Unless the coyote is a federal judge he is not getting inside that building without having a picture ID, going through a metal detector, and putting his briefcase through the X ray machine. So either LeDuff didn't bother to get it right, his editor was sleeping, or both.

I don't mind this kid of colorful writing when it is well done, but this is the kind of exaggeration that crosses the line. He gives the impression that there are tumbleweeds in the Courthouse. It's usuaully quiet in there, but not that quiet.

And there is no way LeDuff does not know about the MT, which wrote cover story about his lazy journalism in the widely reported story about the homeless guy frozen in ice.

**Det_ard** · April-03-09, 10:48 AM

I eagerly await the shitstorm that'll happen when LeDuff writes about Tyree Guyton someday. How dare he?

The MT occasionally has some good stuff but it's still the baby brother to the two dailies in terms of news coverage, breaking stories and circulation. I'd bet real money that a majority of Tri-County residents have never even heard of it. It's a fringe/niche paper.

**BShea** · April-03-09, 12:28 PM

It's an alt-weekly. It's not the same thing as the Freep/News. It's not a daily newspaper. It's not a "traditional" news-gathering operation. Instead, it's like the alt-weeklies you see in other cities. It fills a niche readership market and role, and does some good work.

Some would argue these pubs are the weekly rag of the jaded hipster crowd that tries to be what it thinks is edgy, and others would say it does very necessary journalism that others don't do.

I'm all for voices to cater to all readership desires. But MT, Real Detroit and publications of that nature are not general circulation newspapers so its unfair to both to compare 'em in a general sense. They also don't have the financial and manpower resources of a corporate-owned newspaper. They print 100,000 copies, or whatever it is, but The News still have 140,000 people that pay to have it delivered [[on the days they can still get it delivered!).

I also think the suggestion that they break as many stories as The News is absurd.

Anyway, there's a needed place for all these papers. [[Especially Crain's, which serves yet another audience ... yeah, self shout-out there, so sue me!)

**thefishwrap** · April-03-09, 01:17 PM

I work for a weekly newspaper chain. I can't even begin to count the number of stories [[general news or unique features like the coon guy) that I have written and then the "big" papers later reported. It's how it works. By extension, TV generally follows the freep/detnews.

**Patrick** · April-03-09, 01:42 PM

So is Charlie LeDuff a hillbilly? He sure sounds like one in that video or is it a put on?

dexterferry · April-03-09, 01:49 PM

leduff speaks in an affected accent; he's one of those white guys that talks differently around black people. he thinks he's "connecting" with them but really he just looks like an idot.

**Reality_Check** · April-03-09, 02:41 PM

Originally Posted by Gianni

There is nothing in either piece that says or suggests that the writer accompanied the Coon Man on a hunt. . . . Beasley refuses to disclose his hunting grounds." So obviously the writer did not go hunting with him."

I respectfully disagree, Gianni.

The extent and precision of details in each separately reported article indicate to me that the reporters saw what they describe. These do not read like as-told-to features.

As for the "true outdoorsman" keeping mum about where he hunts, I took that to mean he asked Charlie not to disclose where they went. Yes, it could have been written more clearly [["Beasley asked a reporter not to disclose his hunting grounds"), though that would have interrupted narrative flow and present-tense style . . . and opened the writer to shots here -- again -- about putting himself into the strory.

I get that Charlie's approach is polarizing, and agree with Gnome this fits into the category of tastes and opinions -- not who's "wrong" or "right."

I also value this reality check from Cloud Wall:

The fact that the details are same in each shows that the reporters did their jobs...Charlie's mention of a .22 caliber rifle is not some sinister sign that he's slipping into plagiarism. Who, what, when, where, why...they each covered their bases.

Amen to that, bro'.

**mauser** · April-03-09, 06:50 PM

Heres the original 'house of blues' video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pclSdUpWXIY

**Stikine** · April-09-09, 04:29 PM

Originally Posted by mauser

im wondering what Stikine thinks of Charlies masterful appropriation of somebody elses work.

Oh Mauser,....Silly Mauser,....many people can write about the same topic. Only you and yours think it is an appropriation of someone else's work. Give it a rest already! You do not like his work,...do not read it. For the rest of us who can appreciate good writing, interesting topics, and someone new writing about things old, I say write on! LeDuff,.....keep it coming Finley,....make me like sports Albom,....Blog on Oneita!

I do so miss my morning paper! And I am not quite into reading a newspaper online,....maybe in the summer when I have more time to idle away the hours. Still,...miss the newsprint on my hands!

**mauser** · April-10-09, 07:45 AM

Originally Posted by Stikine

Only you and yours

me and my what now ?

So Stikine - you see no similarity in the two pieces, and the two videos ? Yes / No ?

**pffft** · April-10-09, 08:20 AM

Memo to all: There are still print Detroit papers. You can get ink on your hands every day, you just have to go out and buy them Monday through Wednesday. Thrown on your porch Thursday-Sunday, or you can continue to go out and buy them...

p.s. "Oneita?" You cannot be serious...

**Lonyo exit** · April-10-09, 10:33 AM

I like how Stinkine puts Albom and LeDuff in the same sentence, two writers who don't let facts get in the way of a good yarn. Apt grouping.

dexterferry · April-10-09, 11:00 AM

I think everyone repeating the theme "more than one journalist can write about a person" just doesn't get it.

No one is saying coonman was off limits to Leduff because MT already had a story on him. But when another media outlet in your town writes an in-depth profile on a "local character" and then a bigger outlet sends out their "local color" guy to do an in-depth story on the same character, it seems the DECENT THING TO DO would be acknowledge the first one or make the second one different enough to justify its ink. In this case, the story [[and the videos) are shockingly similar and the first story wasn't acknowledged.

No one is saying LeDuff violated anyone's intellectual property. We're saying that poaching a story is a pretty lousy thing to do. Sure the gnome and the bshea's will say it happens all the time. So? That doesn't make it right, and I think it speaks volumes about LeDuff's character. And LeDuff's character is pretty much defined by climbing on top of whoever gets in the way to put Charlie LeDuff above everyone else. With his checkered past, no matter how much "color" he's bringing to a "beige" scene, this incident just further proves that LeDuff is a real jerk.

Why does that matter? Some of us still believe in an old-style journalism where egos are put in check and facts are important. Charlie's LeDuff's "journalism" is just sensationalist egotism. I think the local reaction to LeDuff would be different if he hadn't strolled into town extolling his NYT credentials acting like he was blessing us rust belt peons with his mere presence. A little respect for those who have been toiling here for years would have gone a long way for Charlie LeDuff.

He can drive around in his stupid red cab pretending to look for stories while he lazily steals them from writers [[and filmmakers: see the "Moving Graves" documentary) who've been covering detroit's odd stories for many years, but there are people who will continue to call him out on his lack of integrity and respect.

**Vic_doucette** · April-10-09, 11:17 AM

Amen, Dexterferry!

**pffft** · April-10-09, 11:43 AM

OK, but you'd better research it and make sure the M. Times was the first outlet ever, in all mankind, to write about the raccoon hunter. Are you certain?

With most stories, the provenance is very hard to prove. Reporters love to claim ownership of a story, but you can usually trace it back to someone else.

**Stikine** · April-10-09, 12:28 PM

Originally Posted by pffft

Memo to all: There are still print Detroit papers. You can get ink on your hands every day, you just have to go out and buy them Monday through Wednesday. Thrown on your porch Thursday-Sunday, or you can continue to go out and buy them...

p.s. "Oneita?" You cannot be serious...

I am not saying that she is a great writer,...I just like her O Street. Reminds me of things I have forgotten, or clues me in to her thinking, I dunno,....I do not spend a lot of time on the internet but cannot really grasp reading the paper online. You are right about the paper being available ont he off delivery days. It was just so convenient having it delivered. I will make it a point to pick up a paper.

Since I am a blog-virgin, are there any out there worth checking out on a daily/weekly basis?

Mauser - we will never agree on the LeDuff front but surely there is some common ground somewhere?