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Daily Mail Danny Douglas Feature Shows Original Reporting Hidden Behind Post-BuzzFeed Byline Caution

This archived screenshot preserves a Daily Mail feature about Danny Douglas, described as the real-life Indiana Jones, and the story of how an American dog food salesman came to uncover valuable material beneath the floorboards of a Czech castle during the communist period. The screenshot is significant because the reporting was, according to Michael Leidig, his own original work even though the published article carried the byline of one of his staff members, reflecting the practical effect of the BuzzFeed allegations on CEN’s ability to place material under Leidig’s name. The item matters in the wider evidence chain because it documents two linked issues: first, the kind of old-fashioned agency reporting BuzzFeed failed to recognise, involving curiosity, source-finding, direct contact and an original interview with Danny Douglas; and second, the reputational damage caused by BuzzFeed’s article, which made some publishers cautious about using Leidig’s byline even where the work itself remained publishable and commercially valuable. Read alongside the wider material on byline invisibility, agency attribution and post-BuzzFeed reputational harm, this item helps show how original reporting could continue to reach major publications while the person who found, developed and wrote the story became harder to credit openly.

Source

Part of Central European News & Mike Leidig v BuzzFeed (US Second Circuit Libel Case) – Archived Web Screenshots

Europe Media newsX CIC Published 3 May 2026 at 13:59 Source: 16 July 2016

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Daily MailMailOnlineDanny Douglasreal-life Indiana JonesMichael LeidigCENCentral European NewsCzech castleoriginal reportingagency journalismbyline invisibilitystaff bylineattributionpost-BuzzFeed damagereputational harmsource-findingdirect interviewfeature journalismold-fashioned reportingarchived web screenshotsource evidencelibel case evidence

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File SCREEN - Danny Douglas - the real-life Indiana Jones - Daily Mail Online_ - [www.dailymail.co.uk].pdf · 3.3 MB Download

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