As Moxley noted in his column this week, the current Vanity Fair issue has a story on ex-Broadcom head and former Weekly cover boy Henry Nicholas. He notes how writer Bethany McLean gladly cites all media outlets when swiping bits from their Nicholas coverage for her story–except the Weekly. In fact, McLean stole three quotes from us without ever mentioning our name. Why, Beth? Why did you allow this, Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter? That's the type of cheap journalism the Orange County Register practices with us.
It's not mere sour grapes on our part to note this–it's good journalism to cite someone else's work–and if us cretins at the Weekly can (and do) practice this, why not an estimable rag like Vanity Fair?
Here's the proof in the VF pilfer pudding:
Where McLean wrote about Nicholas that “he once proudly announced, 'I am a media-relations nightmare!'”…
…ex-Weekly writer Dave Wielenga had this in his 2004 Nicholas piece: “'I am a media-relations nightmare,' he announced proudly.” (Where did you get the exclamation point, Beth? And I like your mini-case of plagiarism–you really couldn't find a different phrase and so had to flip Dave's words? How about “he once stated”? Or “he once proclaimed with pride”? Anything except what Dave said)
Where McLean writes, “A few years ago, Nicholas, in a moment of self-reflection, said, 'All I’ve done is make money. I’ve achieved none of my goals.' Now there’s a chance he never will.”…
…Dave quoted Nicholas as saying, “'All I've done is make money,' he scoffed. 'I have achieved none of my goals. All I can say is that I still have a chance of achieving them—if in five years, Broadcom has changed the world, if we think of the Internet the way we think of dial tone.'”
And where McLean printed, “In 2004, he told a reporter, 'There is a whole cottage industry of parasites who make it their business to be friends of billionaires. The problem is that because they have an agenda, they are often better with you than your real friends, who don’t know how to act with you anymore.'”…
…Wielenga had Nicholas saying this: “But there is a whole cottage industry of parasites who make it their business to be friends of billionaires. The problem is that because they have an agenda, they are often better with you than your real friends, who don't know how to act with you anymore.”
Who is this mysterious reporter and publication that provided you with so many money quotes, Beth? Inquiring minds want to know!
