Writer/blogger Denis Horgan, a former Hartford Courant columnist, raises concerns that his old paper’s “itowns” section runs submitted pieces -sometimes by former writers for the paper – without identifying their new affiliations which, in fact, are as paid spokespeople for the institutions they are writing about.
How odd that seeing the by-lines of my pal, Michele Jacklin, sets me to grinding my teeth. How sad that seeing the by-lines of my friend, David Medina, makes me despair. But they do.
Our friend at the Hartford Courant alumni site, Paul Stern, who helped design the Courant section which publishes submitted articles, weighs in too:
Most of the pieces submitted to iTowns are harmless press releases that would never otherwise see print. But I can see where some people might take issue with the ethics of not disclosing the writer’s connection to his or her subject matter.
