To the editors:
Regarding your Hot Type item on Steve Neal appropriating someone else’s published interview and passing it off as his own interview, if a lowly Sun-Times free-lancer pulled that stunt the person would never get another Sun-Times assignment [May 21].
Neal’s boss, Mark Hornung, defends his charge with an arrogant dismissal, “Steve doesn’t need to be lectured on how and where to take notes from me. I don’t have any problems with this one.” That statement obviously needs to be translated as “Steve is our top prize that we got from the Tribune, I’m not going to publicly say anything to taint him. Perhaps in private I will tell him not to do it again.” Readers should keep this in mind whenever the Sun-Times in the future chastises a politico for fudging the truth.
Neal’s refusal to reply was more egregious than his original mistake–a perfect example of hubris.
Bob Pruter
Elmhurst