Kansas City News Blog

Yesterday, Poynter's Jim Romenesko totally busted Omaha World-Herald Publisher Terry Kroeger lifting sections of Kansas City Star Publisher Mark Zieman's pep talk letter to readers.

Kroeger's December 7 column featured this passage:

"To be sure, this year has been difficult for newspapers, including your World-Herald. The economic downturn has reduced our advertising revenue, which has forced us to adjust our expenses, including reducing our work force by 51 employees last month."

Which is so clearly different from this graph from Zieman's November 29 desperate plea to readers magnum opus:

"To be sure, this year has been particularly difficult for newspapers, including your hometown Star. The deep and widening recession has significantly reduced our advertising revenue, which has forced us to slash expenses and lay off valued employees."

Romenesko also highlighted this graph from Kroeger:

"Yet the business that is The World-Herald is still highly successful, which surprises some of my friends and even relatives. They are amazed that I am so optimistic about The World-Herald's future. They are stunned to hear that we are solidly profitable, even in this tough economy."

And Zieman's:

"Yet The Star still shines, a fact that comes as a shock to my friends, colleagues and even relatives. As publisher, I am approached as people would greet a dying man, with eyes downcast and in hushed tones. They are relieved to discover I'm optimistic about The Star's future. They are astounded to hear we're still solidly profitable."

Those aren't the only similar passages. Romenesko could have found so much more. Take the opening origin stories of dueling publishers -- World-Herald's Gilbert M. Hitchcock versus The Star's William Rockhill Nelson. Or this gem:

Zieman: "Bloggers, talk radio hosts, TV pundits and ideologues on both ends of the spectrum all can entertain and inform. But only the local newspaper has the staff, responsibility and ethics policies to carefully gather the facts and present them in an objective format so that citizens, working together, can tackle the problems that threaten our communities or endanger our democracy."

Kroeger: "Bloggers, talk-radio hosts and TV pundits all can entertain and inform. But only the local newspaper has the staff, experience and expertise to gather facts on a wide range of topics and present them in an objective and understandable format so that citizens can tackle the problems in our communities and region."

Kroeger responded to Romenesko today, noting he had Zieman's permission to use "some of his ideas."

"Thus a few of them made it into my column, although I would note there are some meaningful differences between the two," Kroeger wrote. "Looking at it today, I wish I had mentioned Mr. Zieman's column as a point of reference, but I didn't."

Yeah, "meaningful differences" my ass.

Here's just one more example.

Zieman: "Only a well-trained and well-resourced newspaper staff could do those stories, or others that exposed lavish perks and expense account excesses at Missouri's huge teacher pension fund ..."

Kroeger: "Only a well-trained, well-resourced newspaper staff could produce the extensive coverage by The World-Herald of last year's Von Maur shootings ..."

Kroeger, how about you use your "well-trained and well-resourced newspaper" to write your own stuff? -- Justin Kendall