<a href=”http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A22027-2003Jul21.html?nav=hptop_ts

” target=”_blank”> Howard Kurtz has a great piece following up on the bizarre denials from ABC’s David Westin that television news doesn’t rip-off print news. Having worked in a variety of capacities in the television and print worlds, all I can say is this denial is a joke. Seriously, the idea that television producers “independently” fact-check stuff they see in newspapers and come up with story ideas solely on their own is laughable. Of course, it does happen from time to time. But Westin makes it sound like this is industry practice rather than the exception which proves the rule. At best, television news producers are like bloggers without websites. They scoop up what they find elsewhere in the media and work with it. Sure, some do some bloggers do independent reporting, but you’d hardly say that’s the rule.