On August 5, blogger Mary Chastain reported at Breitbart.com that weapons sent to Mexico in the federal government’s deadly Fast and Furious operation were involved in an assassination attempt on a Mexican government official. From her painstakingly researched post:
Three weapons were recovered on February 25, 2010 in Tijuana, Baja. Two had the criminal code “Homicide – Attempted” and one had a non-violent code “Found Firearm.” These guns are connected to the assassination attempt on then Tijuana Municipal Secretary of Public Safety Julian Leyzaola.
Lo and behold, “real journalist” Diana Washington Valdez of the El Paso Times published an article the next day titled “Report: ATF gun part of plan to kill Juarez police chief Julián Leyzaola.”
Gosh that looks familiar. What a remarkable coincidence.
Yes El Paso Times when you're going to report something give credit. I talked about tha assassination attempt days ago: http://t.co/dQtJcWq3
— Mary #FlyTheW (@mchastain81) August 8, 2012
Credit? But Breitbart.com is just a blog and Mary Chastain is just a blogger.
https://twitter.com/jason_howerton/status/233052801893273600
No way this can come back to haunt a real journalist, right?
Wrong. Chastain harnessed the power of Twitter to draw attention to the obvious need for remedial ethics classes at the El Paso Times.
I beat you to it El Paso Times. You should credit me in your article or at least link to it. http://t.co/c6IRYHKd
— Mary #FlyTheW (@mchastain81) August 8, 2012
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.@DarrellIssa Chairman Issa, I actually reported on this the day before. El Paso Times didn't credit me with the find: http://t.co/dQtJcWq3
— Mary #FlyTheW (@mchastain81) August 8, 2012
Hey @michellemalkin. Old Media ripped me off. Guess they didn't want to credit #JustABlogger. 🙂
— Mary #FlyTheW (@mchastain81) August 8, 2012
I'm just so upset b/c I worked & researched so hard for my Mexico piece. I had @Flynn1776 waiting weeks for that piece. 🙂
— Mary #FlyTheW (@mchastain81) August 8, 2012
A lot of us bloggers do our work for free. Recognition is the only payment we receive. Don't deceive us Old Media!!
— Mary #FlyTheW (@mchastain81) August 8, 2012
I did write an email to the author. I hope she can clarify everything.
— Mary #FlyTheW (@mchastain81) August 8, 2012
Chastain is still waiting to hear back. You’d think Valdez would be swooning over the chance to correspond with Chastain — clearly she’s a huge fan of the Breitbart.com blogger’s work.
Badge of honor, Mary! RT @marychastain: Hey @michellemalkin. Old Media ripped me off. Guess they didn't want to credit #JustABlogger. 🙂
— Michelle Malkin (@michellemalkin) August 8, 2012
But someone should let Valdez know that plagiarism is not the sincerest form of flattery.
.@elpasotimes do tell us how plagiarism of #JustABlogger @marychastain #FastAndFurious work is the #LapDogMedia highest form of flattery.
— Joseph Benning (@josephbenning) August 8, 2012
It’s worth noting that The Daily Caller’s Matthew Boyle also covered the use of Fast and Furious weapons in the attempted murder of Julián Leyzaola. One glaring difference: Boyle actually credited Chastain for the scoop.
.@MaryChastain broke this big one on #FastandFurious — Cartel used walked gun in assassination attempt: http://t.co/oQnMSxVs
— Matthew Boyle (@mboyle1) August 8, 2012
Exit question for the dinosaur media bullies at the El Paso Times:
Seriously @ElPasoTimes why wouldn't you give credit to @MaryChastain for her #FastandFurious story?
— Marcus Jay (@deathproof1982) August 8, 2012
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