There are many things to note about Lancaster Newspaper’s faults in its publications, but the use of the word “special” in a freelancer’s byline really isn’t one of them.
It’s common practice to designate a freelance story as “Special to (insert name of publication here)” under a byline or as a tagline. In addition, it’s a common practice for freelancers to submit copy to multiple publications, especially for an out-of-town sports event that is not covered by a staffer. The Post seemed to have a problem with this, but as a news editor for 25 years at a major daily paper, I can assure all your readers that this is standard in the business.
What the Intell could do is insert a tagline that says something like “Dave Collins is an employee of the Barnstormers.” While some newspapers do that to expose any potential conflict of interest, it is not as common practice as it should be.
The Post and Newslanc.com have a wealth of items to criticize LNP about on a daily basis. This is simply not one of them.
