Plagiarism in Greensboro

There are degrees of wrong. I think I'd agree that fabrication is worse than plagiariasm.

Both are bad enough to get you deservedly fired and blackballed, so in practical terms it probably doesn't matter much.

 

Wow, this is stunning. Robert has plenty of talent. Why he would do these things is baffling. It makes no sense at all.

 

Maybe journalists should have to send all their stories to turnitin.com before they're published.

http://turnitin.com/static/index.html

 

Robert Bell is not only one of the most talented writers out there, he's also just about the most generous co-worker you could ever come across. Haven't seen him in years, but my thoughts are with him.

 

Unfortunate, but also unacceptable.

 

how incredibly dense.
wrong is wrong. jaywalking is the same as murder.

much much worse is a corrupt reporter. with a conflict of interest. with a financial stake in the story. way beyond copying accurate information, which is not as bad as fabricating information.

 

Disagree. We don't have much to hang onto in this business these days. Integrity has to count for something.

Plagiarism is ALWAYS wrong.

 

What is gained by the newspaper with these kinds of public outings?

It seems like firing the guy would be sufficient but why do papers feel the need to publish they fired a guy, who did not, by the way, commit a crime.

 

Holier-than-thou attitude, even though they run roughshod over people they cover, over readers and over their own workers constantly.

Thanks for making a distinction, henryhenry, that I've tried to make as well.

I supposed that it's a good thing that the reaction to plagiarism is so intense and knee-jerk -- it shows that the journalism training has taken hold and that people might generally avoid the transgression.

But to contend that it is every bit as bad as fabricating info and passing it off as fact, or even a half dozen other journalistic ills, is not wise or honest. Taking money from a source to espouse that person's viewpoint would be way worse, too, in my view. Lying to readers within the body of your work, however it's done, is worse than lying to them about a byline.

 

It's the my shit doesn't stink attitude, one of many reasons why the business is fucked up.

 

Maybe I'm confused... maybe it's not a specific crime... But if I have something (my work) and you use it without permission (steal it), then that sounds pretty criminal to me.

And it's definitely not ethical. The watchdog of a community must be above reproach. And if we find out that one of our own is not, we must tell people that we watch ourselves too and that we hold ourselves accountable.

I'm not the least bit sorry that someone got fired for plagarism and that he was outed for doing so.

If he's not guilty, then he has recourse for having his good name libeled.

 

if you write that joe blow hit 23 home runs with 105 RBI in 2005 do you own that information?

if i read your sentence and write that joe blow had 105 RBI with 23 home runs is that plagiarism, or is it not because i flipped the order of the stats?

plagiarism isn't as black and white as all the self-righteous flay-me-for-my-sins types think it is.

it's only plagiarism if the content is original thought.