[Hildy]

I wouldn't say that the Packer incident was "staged." He just happens to be the first on line to all events. That doesn't mean the NYTimes put him there.

[RonDog]

See also THIS thread:

AP Memo/ Advisory On Quoting Greg Packer
[NY Times 'Tourist Guy' & DNC Fan Man on the Street]
Romenesko Media News Website ^ | June 16, 2003 | Jim Romenesko
Posted on 06/16/2003 1:59 PM PDT by ewing

News Organization: Associated Press

To: News Editors/ Correspondents USA

The world is full of all kinds of interesting people.

One of them is Greg Packer a [Contsruction Worker] from Huntington, NY who apparently lives to get his name on the Associated Press Wire and in other media.

A Nexis search turned up 100 mentions in various publications. And that is just a handful of the stories. He shows up in AP Broadcast actualities and in one APTN piece.

Mr. Packer is clearly eager to be quoted.
Let's be eager too--to find other people to quote.

So far, he is apparently just attending East Coast events. But it is not out of the realm of possibility that he will someday show up in your town, first in line somehwere..

Kristin Gazlay

CLICK HERE for the rest of this thread

[Reverend Bob]

Greg Packer: A Zelig for our generation.

[laredo44]

I wouldn't say that the Packer incident was "staged." He just happens to be the first on line to all events. That doesn't mean the NYTimes put him there.

Really? How does one happen to be first on line at the St. Patrick's Day Parade, or the Thanksgiving Parade or the Labor Day Parade? How are you first on line for New Year's Eve celebrations in Times Square? Or for Yankees, Mets, or Jets games?

You don't. Something underhanded is happening with the Packer interviews.

[ladyinred]

The Times didn't have to put Packer in line, but they indeed should know him by now and perhaps ignore him doncha think? That was the point, not that they planted him, although that is a possibility too.