Got an email from Localeaks the other day alerting me that someone had submitted an anonymous tip for editors in Bakersfield.
Right on.
Localeaks is described as "a service for concerned citizens of the U.S. to provide anonymous tips to their local and state news organizations." Kind of like a localized version of WikiLeaks.
I was directed to create a Localeaks account, then download an oddly named ZIP file. After a separate email exchange with Localeaks' Matt Terenzio confirming this wasn't a joke, I downloaded the file, and prepared to dive into some juicy tips.
Here it is in the single .txt file in its entirety:
This might be a good story for you, I found a website that seems to obsess about the effects of classic-style video game arcades disappearing from US cities on American culture.
http://www.arcadeperfect.net/
Got it. Throwing our best reporters on the case.
As I reread that "tip," I was looking over my shoulder in search of a crew from "Punk'd." As I write this I'm still looking over my shoulder in anticipation of a crew from "Punk'd."
Sigh.
This was among 50 tips Localeaks shared with 300 U.S. news organizations. For Localeaks' sake, let's hope the other 49 had a bit of meat to them. Once bitten, twice shy.