PressEthic

New York Magazine reports:

John Sutter, publisher of Community Media newspapers, has long objected to the way the Times’ Sunday “City” section draws from his papers (The Villager, Downtown Express). In 2003 he got Washington Post media critic Howard Kurtz to write an exposé on the uncredited pickups.

Then in October, Sutter spotted an article he believed was too similar to a Villager piece, and e-mailed the section’s editor, Connie Rosenblum. She replied, “Our regular writers have been told they may not read any of your publications, and they all abide by that.” Sutter was “surprised and confused” by the statement. “Ban your writers from reading certain newspapers? It’s hard to believe.”

(link) Perhaps readers would be better served if the NYT reported relevant news already covered by other papers... while crediting them for being first.