Why did the ketchup blush: this week on Fresh Powder

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A summary of journalism news and pop culture brought to you by  SNO

The lede

The No. 1 true-crime podcast on the market, Crime Junkie, is facing plagiarism accusations and removed several of its episodes in response to specific charges, so far avoiding lawsuits. But is it just being picked on? Variety: “Those in the true-crime podcast world say plagiarism is rampant.” Each episode is like its own research paper, meaning it doesn’t exist if not for the work of other journalists. (But it is not unique in that.)

. . . How this plays out — perhaps, what example is made of Crime Junkie — could have broader implications for the future of policing podcasts. Poynter would argue, “complaints of stealing material are legitimate. Simply directing people to go to another place to find citations, particularly when it could be easily done in the show, is not good enough.”

Seconded

“Freed from the time requirements it takes to design and publish a newspaper,” Sacramento State University’s The State Hornet is redirecting its efforts solely to fact-checking Twitter. (Just kidding!) Its editorial board explains its decision to stop printing and start posting, after 70 years.

TGIF

The last time Fresh Powder entered your inbox, we left you with BuzzFeed’sthorough investigation into the clues about Taylor Swift’s new album. Now that “Lover” has arrived, Rolling Stone has a timeline of everything that led us to it. (Personally, it also represents a pretty accurate depiction of what I did this summer.)

. . . RS: “It feels like an epiphany: free and unhurried, governed by no one concept or outlook, it represents Swift at her most liberated.”

#MillennialProblems

What to say when your friend says “You’re just jealous” of the Kardashians: Their friendships are as manufactured as their photos are airbrushed. BuzzFeed: “Their girlfriends affirm but never outshine them, acting like a hall of mirrors, always guiding our eye back to Kim, Kylie, Kourtney, or Khloe from whom everything originates, and to which everything returns.”

Sports!

“Investors, media executives, and reporters who don’t work for the Athletic all express skepticism about the business. But almost no one will share these sentiments publicly. Who wants to be seen badmouthing one of the only places still hiring journalists? Bringing on writers for top dollar and freeing them from chasing clicks is admirable, the doubters says, but it’s no way to make money.” Very few are allowed into the factory to see how the chocolate’s made, but Bloomberg was. The findings: (Redacted)

. . . Deadspin probed deeper against the financial numbers Bloomberg published. “Mather said The Athletic is not profitable, and that tracks. Everything else … doesn’t line up as neatly.” (Ah, much more the tone of the DMs I keep with my buddies from our college paper.)

Thinking ahead

Vaping, student journalism’s topic du jour in 2018, has its 2019 legs. USA Today: CDC reports 153 possible cases of vaping-related lung illnesses, many involving THC. (Ask: How can this inform your reporting on the subject now?)

. . . Listen: Reporting on Vaping at High Schools

This also happened last week(ish): Watch this mother and son’s back-to-school parody of Lizzo’s “Truth Hurts,” rated E for Everyone.