06-08-2009 READERS' REP STORIES NOTHING NEW FOR 'D DOG' Former Kansas City Star gossip columnist Hearne Christopher Jr recently wrote a pair of fascinating stories on his blog attacking the Star's Readers' Representative Derek Donovan and the fact Donovan is writing stories. Unfortunately, neither one made much sense. First (6/4) Christopher "broke" the news that Donovan's byline has been showing up "in unusual places." He even referred to Donovan---as only Christopher can---as "the D Dog." The gist of the initial story answered the all-important question: "The newspaper is spread so thin its reader rep is moonlighting as a bylined, celebrity gossipmeister?" The first story likely generated such a "who cares?" response, a second one was necessary to explain why Donovan writing stories is such a huge issue: "Okay, stick with me a minute," wrote Christopher. "Since the reader rep effectively sits in judgment of reporters and writers, it�s an obvious conflict of interest when he or she must then sit in judgment of themselves when they become the reporter.... "...Can a judge act as a lawyer, then hop on the bench and render an impartial verdict? You make the call." Comparing the Readers' Rep job to that of a lawyer and judge trading places is one of those massive leaps of sense that Christopher (or as he might be known today: "H-Dog") has made for years. (It is kind of like how he used to brag that he was the first or second most-read columnist at the Star.) If Christopher had done a little fact-checking (never his strong suit) he would have found that Donovan has an MA degree in theater history and criticism. He has had about 300 bylines on arts and entertainment subjects since 1996. Writing and contributing to articles is nothing new to Donovan. "I was helping out while other staffers were on vacation," said Donovan, who is as confused over the criticism as everyone else. "I've been doing arts and entertainment writing since 1996, as an archive search demonstrates." Can a third column be far behind with Craig Glazer wading in on the topic? Stay tuned...
06-13-2009 "Good pieces on both Derek and the recall. It's good that there is someone with your credibility to look at both sides. Thanks for all you do. Glad you've stayed in it." ---John Altevogt
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