After failing to obtain comment from two earlier inquiries to the Poynter Institute, Zebra Fact Check reached out to Poynter’s editor Ren LaForme.
LaForme holds the post occupied by Julie Moos when Poynter dealt with a controversy in 2011 over Jim Romenesko’s method of attribution.
Dear Ren LaForme,
I’m making one final attempt (1. McBride 2. Dyakon) to obtain comment from Poynter regarding the faulty attribution I discovered last week in the July 2, 2020 edition of the “Factually” newsletter published jointly by Poynter and the American Press Institute.
The highlighted portion of the image is a verbatim quotation from the Washington Post article linked in the paragraph below the quotation lacking quotation marks.
The author, American Press Institute’s Susan Benkelman, implausibly maintains that the attribution is clear. I would say it’s likely a reader might credit the quotation to the Facebook source linked in the same paragraph, not the Washington Post source linked in the subsequent indented-and-bulleted paragraph.
When Jim Romenesko used a similar method of attribution that led to his resignation in 2011, Poynter’s managing editor at that time issued a statement that Poynter believes verbatim quotations are not punctuated correctly unless they are enclosed with quotation marks.
Has that changed in the almost 10 years since?
I would like your comments for publication, please. I can delay my publishing deadline (today) on request.
Of note, I challenged the accuracy of the quoted Washington Post report in the comments section under the “Factually”
newsletter. That comment was held in moderation before getting expunged.
Thanks for your attention to this matter.