Folio Weekly's Oct. 12 cover story accuses the Florida Times-Union -- and editorial page editor Lloyd Brown, in particular -- of publishing editorials with portions lifted directly from documents produced by right-wing groups. The article, penned by former Times-Union editorial writer Billee Bussard, has prompted the Jacksonville daily to launch an internal investigation, reports Editor & Publisher. Times-Union publisher Carl Cannon says, "I would never expect to find plagiarism at our paper, and I would be surprised if we did in this case." Brown tells reporter Joe Strupp: "I think we try to base our editorials on fact, and we have to get them from somewhere."
Readers of Gambit Weekly, New Times Broward-Palm Beach, Miami New Times, Weekly Planet (Tampa), Weekly Planet (Sarasota), Folio Weekly and Orlando Weekly have lately seen Mother Nature at her worst. Distributed in areas affected by the hurricanes that have pounded Florida and surrounding states since August, these alt-weeklies have come out on schedule -- thanks to determined staffers and contingency plans.
Many alt-weekly editors feel they spend most of their time putting out fires, but Bob Snell is leaving Folio Weekly to do it full-time, literally. Anne Schindler moves from associate editor to editor and says she already misses Snell, a former Peace Corps volunteer who has "a real sensibility about hands-on helping people".
