MG Siegler complains that the Wall Street Journal failed to credit him when covering a story he earlier scooped at TechCrunch: Apple Acquires Chomp.
The Wall Street Journal Is Fucking Bullshit
Earlier today, I broke some news.
I don't typically do this anymore given my new job. But from time to time this will happen. But if you read The Wall Street Journal, you'd never know. Why's that? Because they're fuckheads who don't credit actual sources of information.
The WSJ's omission is rude, for sure. How hard is it to begin a sentence with "First reported by MG Siegler at TechCrunch," or somesuch? Other venues, including Bloomberg, did exactly that. WSJ reporter Jessica Vascellaro's tweets also suggest that Siegler's post is how she knew about the story, after all.
But she didn't have to credit Siegler as her source of information because she got Apple on the record to tell her itself. She had a more direct source.
Siegler's scoop was fantastic, but getting it wasn't the news. Apple buying Chomp was the news. No-one owes us politeness, and hearing a story first doesn't make us part of the story. It gives us a first-mover advantage. Isn't that enough?
