This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2012, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The relationship between reader and writer is important to all lovers of good journalism. Last week's episode of the public radio news program "This American Life" had a segment titled "Forgive Us Our Press Passes" that told how some local news reporting is being outsourced by once-reputable newspapers like the Chicago Tribune to journalism outsourcing startups like the company Journatic.
In some cases, the stories are researched on the Internet by writers in the Philippines and then published in American cities as local reporting under phony bylines.
I'm fearful that this is a sign of the approaching journocalypse. Therefore, I must ask my most-beloved local print news source: Does The Salt Lake Tribune know of local stories published here in Utah but written next to a phone in a call center in Chicago, or by "Jimmy Finkle" in the Philippines?
The Tribune's writers have my trust, but I need help reading between the lines!
Christopher Whiting
Salt Lake City