Kurtz on the NYT scooping the WP
[the detail about buying the book - which is under heavy publicity
embargo - at retail is very odd]
Trumping Woodward By Howard Kurtz Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, September 29, 2006; 7:54 AM
Well, supersleuth Bob Woodward has himself been scooped.
Poised to unveil the contents of his new book on Sunday with a triple
rollout–”60 Minutes” interview and excerpts in The Washington Post
and Newsweek–Woodward woke up this morning to see the highlights
splattered on the front page of the New York Times.
Is it weird for the Times to vacuum up the news from the latest
blockbuster written by the assistant managing editor for its chief
competitor? Sure. Is there anything untoward about it? Not at all.
The Post has done the same thing to other publications and authors.
And how did the Times’s David Sanger score the super-secret book,
“State of Denial”? This is fiendishly clever: He bought one at retail
price. (He doesn’t say where or how.)
[…]