Not Sure if I Should Be Flattered or Pissed

On Examiner.com, I am the Orlando Getaways Examiner which means I cover pretty much everything, from Disney and Universal to the smaller attractions too. There is also a dedicated Disney Examiner.

A week or two ago, I got a message from a reader that the Disney Examiner had reposted one of my articles. I looked, and it wasn't a direct copy but it was awfully close. Okay, whatever, mine was adapted from a press release and most of her articles are press releases, so maybe it was unintentional. I rarely use press releases anyway so I figured it wouldn't happen again.

Last night I posted an article on theme parks during the cold snap. Lo and behold, guess what the Disney Examiner posted this morning? Not a copy of mine, but the exact same topic, with similar content in many ways. I probably don't have grounds to complain to Examiner since she didn't steal direct passages, but I can't believe she would be so blantant. Maybe I should be flattered because she must think my ideas are better that her own if she has to "borrow" them.

/rant

The friend who emailed me had actually posted a comment like that the first time around. Sadly, examiners have the ability to delete comments they don't like so of course it went "poof."

Examiner.com doesn't have any relationship to Disney. It's owned by a media group (I think the same one that owns some of the Examiner newspapers). You get hired to write on a certain topic, which could be anything from parenting to pets to travel. If this keeps up, I will indeed report it (it's twice now, so I figure the next time will show that it's no coincidence). I'm just hoping she wises up and goes back to simply reprinting press releases but maybe she is upset because I keep popping ahead of her in the ratings/stats.

Yes, Heidi, that's exactly right. There is one overall Examiner website, with various people covering various topics in specified sections. My title is Orlando Getaways Examiner and I think hers is Walt Disney World Examiner, and we both post our articles in the Orlando Travel section.