A headline in the “Vermont” section of the online Freeploid caught my eye today:

Ex-Barre tax collector pleads not guilty to fraud

Wow, big news, I thought to myself, and clicked the link. The story, from the Associated Press, said that former Barre tax collector Marcia Langelier is accused of stealing more than $300,000, which is quite a lot for a place the size of Barre. But it didn’t ring a bell with me. I live in central Vermont and follow the news pretty closely, so you’d think I might have come across this story before.

Then I noticed the dateline “WORCESTER, Mass.” And the fact that the defendant was arraigned in Worcester Superior Court. And that the story was originally reported in the Worcester (Mass) Telegram & Gazette.

The last line of the story provided the final proof: “Barre has about 5,400 residents and is about 60 miles west of Boston.”

Yep, there is, in fact, a Barre, Massachusetts. And that’s where the (alleged) embezzlement took place. You can exhale now, good citizens of the Granite City!

Methinks the Freeploid is goosing its “local” content with some sort of automated news aggregator. Hey, it’s easier than journalism. Cheaper, too.

14 thoughts on “Well, it’s “local” news if you don’t look too close”

have revolutionzed yellow journalism. Tabloid style papers and websites deliberately try to force you to click using surreptitious means. This story highlights one of the more egegious examples.

Doing what MSM does best — poorly serving & misleading the public.

Somehow, it’s difficult to believe they invested any conscious intention of deception here.

it has been in the post WW II period,

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is another

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14 thoughts on “Well, it’s “local” news if you don’t look too close”