Friday, January 10, 2014

The Burgh Newspaper Not Lucid


PLATTSBURGH, NY (NOT PLATTSBURG, MO) -  01/10/14

The following image has created confusion for some readers of The Burgh newspaper:


It ran on the front page of the 1/4/14 edition with the article "Plattsburgh music scene at a crossroads?"   The image was designated as a "file photo," i.e., it belonged to The Burgh.  The caption stated the depicted band was Lucid from Plattsburgh.

Well, that caption was half-right.  The band is called Lucid but The Burgh missed the correct location by roughly 3,000 miles.  I refer to the group in the above image as SLucid because it hails from Spokane, Washington.  Maybe the image selection is a joke – SLucid in the past claimed the rights to the name Lucid, engaging in a dust-up with Plattsburgh's Lucid.

Or maybe someone at The Burgh did a quick Google image search and grabbed one by random.

I emailed The Burgh editor about the problem and so far no response online.  Scanning the latest dead tree edition (1/11/14) I don't see my letter.  OK, maybe there wasn't enough room for it but couldn't the paper at least squeeze in a correction box?

The same image is still included with the online version of the article with no correction.  You have to peruse the reader comments to discover that The Burgh screwed up.

On Facebook Lucid fans tried to ID the band until it was revealed to be SLucid.  So apparently FB is a more accurate news source.

I would credit the photographer of the image but none was listed at the SLucid Facebook page.  It ain't a file photo for The Burgh.  (And people wonder why I include a copyright notice with my images.)

A newspaper should strive to be accurate.  And when it makes a mistake it should run a correction.

Facebook commenters or "lowly" bloggers shouldn't be the only ones clearing up any confusion.

By the way, here's an image of the "real" (Plattsburgh) Lucid:


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