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| -Lurid Crime Tales- |
| A story of a journalistic con artist |
| 2007-06-14 |
| H/T to John Podhoretz at The Corner Joke is on the journalists! Long, well written and a fun read For four years, Elizabeth Albanese turned one of the most important journalism awards in the Southwest into her own myth-making machine, transforming herself from an obscure and ordinary business writer into the brightest star of the Dallas Press Club. Concocting a series of elaborate stories to hide her deception, Albanese rigged the Katie Awards to win 10 prizes over three years, fooling the working reporters and public relations pros who presided over the contest and counted themselves as her friends. It took a part-time journalist, who uncovered her reckless use of a press club credit card, to unravel Albanese's weird little web. That discovery led to a more important one: For at least three years Albanese had been randomly picking the award winners herself, with all the care and precision of a kid tossing nickels into a fountain. In the grander scheme of things, Albanese was just a small-time scammer. She didn't kill anyone or steal money from a school district or bribe elected officials. The most ironic thing about her con is who she conned. Journalists, at their most self-congratulatory, consider themselves watchdogs of the powerful. It is their job to root out corruption and collusion, to sniff out the crooks and the scoundrels. But in this case, Albanese fooled them all and, in the process, may have taken down what was once an influential institution. |
| Posted by:Sherry |
| #2 "journalistic con artist" Redundant. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2007-06-14 18:12 |
| #1 My, what a lovely resume, Elizabeth. Shows initiative, daring...and I see you've won multiple Katie Awards. I'm impressed beyond words. When can you start? |
| Posted by: Pinchy Sulzberger 2007-06-14 14:40 |