Finke calls out Variety over time stamp allegation

Nikki Finke has a response to Variety's unbylined charge last week (Morning Buzz, Friday 1.6.12) that her Deadline.com fudged the time stamp on a blog post to match a Variety scoop: didn't happen. Her note to Variety executives takes it a little farther, of course.

This is a false allegation. At no time did your media outlet bother to call me for comment. I went and checked every time that Mike Fleming's story changed from start to finish. That included the time stamps.

In actuality, Deadline's story originated 2 days before Variety ever published. Mike Fleming originated the story on January 3rd at 15:40 with the facts intact. He worked on the story constantly before he published.

You owe Deadline and especially Mike Fleming a correction and apology in the column you made the allegation. You know full well that Fleming is one of the finest journalists in showbiz. I will not tolerate your outlet anonymously defaming him.

If you don't, I will turn this matter over to our parent company's attorneys. Your column has made other unfounded allegations against Deadline yet never came to me for comment. Your lies about Deadline staff are actionable.

By the way, when is Variety going to stop stealing Deadline's scoops without any credit?