Q the Eye/09.14.15

Dear LakeCountyEye,

I'm a J-School grad who just flew up from Metropolis. How do you get your scoops?

Clark Kent

Dear Man of Steel,

Super question. The answer, in a nutgraf, is your LakeCountyEye steals the stories published on this blog. If someone else has already done the research, why reinvent the wheel?

This is all you need to do:

First go to Patch.com -- a good source of local stories, plus no one ever reads the Patch. Find something more than a few months old to cadge. And look for a byline of someone you never heard of. Like Tim Moran for instance.

This one looks to be low-hanging fruit:

Rauner's Racing Board Appointment Has Ties to Corrupt Loan Firm
By TIM MORAN (Patch Staff)
June 7, 2015

Extract this paragraph ...

A Lake Forest man recently appointed by Gov. Bruce Rauner as chair of the Illinois Racing Board has close ties to a car loan firm that cost investors some $2 billion in the 1990s.
Rauner's Racing Board Appointment Has Ties to Corrupt Loan Firm

And rework it into this LakeCountyEye story ...

Gov Rauner Names Payday Loan CEO to Chair Racing Board
LakeCountyEye
Sunday, March 8, 2015

Then extract this paragraph ...

In the 1990s, Brincat served as a vice president of administration and assistant vice president for Mercury Finance Co., a Lake Forest-based subprime car loan firm in which leaders have admitted to manipulating earnings, failing to charge off unprofitable loans and creating phony financial figures for years, according to a 2007 article in the Chicago Tribune.
Rauner's Racing Board Appointment Has Ties to Corrupt Loan Firm

And turn that one into this LakeCountyEye story ...

Loan Shark Hosts Dold Funder
LakeCountyEye
Sunday, June 20, 2010

Last but not least, extract this image from the Patch ...

And use it to illustrate this LakeCountyEye story ...

Jumping the Shark
LakeCountyEye
Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Finally, don't forget to backdate your stories. That way it looks like Mr Moran lifted his story from this blog -- not the other way around.

And that's how it is done, son.

If you are an elected official, or a previously elected official, or just a private citizen under indictment, send your political questions to Q the Eye c/o ... LakeCountyEye@gMail.com