Is Maureen Dowd advising a weekly paper in Somerville?

Think I gotta side with the News on this one. Both articles read like they were cribbed from a press release, and the side-by-side comparisons don't hold much water.

I mean, consider these two:

Them: The Mayor, along with Red Sox mascot Wally the Green Monster, and State Representative Denise Provost all made appearances in support of the Living Green Festival.

Me: Red Sox mascot Wally the Green Monster, Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone and State Rep. Denise Provost, D-Somerville, made appearances.

Ok, Journo 101, here's your "Who?" question answered. Perhaps "Who showed up that we should care about?" is a more accurate question, but whatever. It's two different people answering this question and trying to adhere to some kind of article style while they're at it. And unless there were any other notable speakers at the event, both answered the question accurately.

It's not plagiarism. It's not even the "Take the encyclopedia article and switch up the words a bit" kind of dodge you used to pull in Junior High. You probably could write an answer to "Who made an appearance at this event?" that's not structured like the examples above. Heck, you could have expanded the paragraph to mention that Wally the Green Monster danced around and scared some kids and Mayor Joe said a few nice words and everybody learned some good lessons about living green, but that would presume you actually covered the event.

And if they are writing from a press release, then it means both articles were written from the same source. Not one from another.

The News' editor has been known to take Loud Shouty Umbrage at criticism from time to time, but this time I think he's a bit justified in his Umbrage. And it's not even as Loud and Shouty as it has been, so he's got that going for him.