By: Joe Strupp In a city of eight million people, what are the odds that the same private citizen would be quoted in two different news stories on two wildly different subjects over two consecutive days -- in The New York Times, no less?
It began when the Times ran a story on Dec. 29 by the uniquely bylined Jennifer 8. Lee, a Times reporter whose name has already given her unwanted attention in the blogosphere. It updated the well-covered saga of the hawks on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue who had been forced from their high-rent home three weeks earlier and had briefly returned.
In that story, Lee quoted one Amanda Tree, allegedly a local actress, as a witness who had seen the feathered friends return. "It was like a belated Christmas gift," Tree said in the story.
The next day, Lee co-wrote another story, this time with Times reporter David W. Chen, about how the holiday season had helped some businesses but not others. Also quoted in that story was a certain actress, now also a dog-walker, named, yes, Amanda Tree, who said she had lost a number of leashed clientele. "You scrimp," she said about her finances.
In a matter of hours, Lee's use of the same source twice in as many days inspired a mention on The Wall Street Journal's "Online Journal" and several conspiracy theories from bloggers -- ranging from accusations that Tree was made up to speculation that she had gone to college with Lee and had been role-playing for both stories.
Lee's explanation to E&P, delivered via cell phone while on assignment this afternoon: She was working on the holiday-business feature on Dec. 28 when she was dispatched for on-scene reporting for the hawk story. While on that assignment, she encountered Ms. Tree, who claimed to have seen the birds return.
After learning about Tree's varied occupations, she asked her for a comment on the other story. Presto! Two quotes for the price of one. Upon returning to the Times, and filing the hawk story, Lee said she decided to use Tree's second comment in the business story, and sought approval from editors (she would not name them) for the double-dip.
Times spokeswoman Catherine Mathis had told E&P: "She asked her editor if it was proper to quote [Tree] in both stories, and they said yes." Mathis also said editors determined Tree "was genuine" but did not say how.
Lee said no editor, as far as she knew, had sought to verify if the woman was real. She would not comment on the attention the incident had caused or if she would do it again in the future.
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