Must Be a Mirage

Editor and Publisher finds the same column published under different bylines, a rather strange practice.

UPDATE: Column Appears in Several Dailies -- With Different Bylines

By Joe Strupp

Published: June 30, 2009 1:20 PM ET updated

NEW YORK A column on planning for retirement has appeared in several newspapers around the country this month -- under different bylines and little change from one to the other.

The column appears to have originated from the Financial Planning Association, according to the Web site of Fisher Financial Strategies, which also posted it and credited FPA. Several other newspaper Web sites have been found posting the column, some crediting FPA and others using only writer bylines.