BELLINGHAM, Wash. — The editor and publisher of Bellingham’s alternative newspaper Cascadia Weekly has admitted to, and apologized for, stealing film reviews from other publications.
But Seattle’s The Stranger reports the writer who first found her work published without permission or compensation dismisses Tim Johnson’s contrition.
Johnson said in last week’s edition that while the responsibility lies with him, he published the articles because of a lack of coverage of independent films and access to critiques by the independent press.
But IndieWire film critic Kate Erbland, who discovered the Cascadia Weekly had wrongfully published her review of the recent major release “The Hustle” and others, brushes off the apology.
She tells The Stranger “it boils down to ‘We didn’t know this was wrong, but we also totally knew this was wrong.'”
And The Stranger points out that Johnson has published reviews of other blockbusters without permission including “The Last Jedi,” which the weekly used for a cover story.