This past month, the Miami New Times‘ Terrence McCoy has made waves throughout Florida’s political waters with hard-charging stories about former Governor Charlie Crist and the trial of former Florida GOP chair Jim Greer. Perhaps too hard-charging. Delving into McCoy’s recent story about Greer’s trials and tribulations, it would appear as most of the best of McCoy’s story originated from the work of WTSP investigative reporter Mike Deeson, such as this documentary produced by WTSP investigative reporter Mike Deeson.
McCoy relying on Deeson’s work would not be a problem if a) McCoy at some point credited Deeson and b) didn’t claim that his interview with Greer is the “most in-depth interview in years.” It’s actually Deeson and company who can make that claim.
Also, McCoy attributes his best wood — the line about the “Shakespearean play where everyone dies in the end” to Greer when, in fact, it’s Greer’s lawyer, Damon Chase, who promised a bloodbath. You can see Chase saying the line at the :07 mark in the documentary produced by Deeson.
Again, McCoy is trying to shake things up with his reporting, but after reading his interview of Greer and watching Deeson’s work, I wonder if he’s just covering familiar territory?
