I'm a big fan of the Strib, but this doesn't help.
It's nothing new, but once again, have to hope it isn't true......
By PATRICK CONDON, ashociated Press Writer
MINNEAPOLIS - The Star Tribune said it was reviewing a year's worth of work by one of its editorial page writers after finding two of his pieces contained similarities to the work of a writer at The New Yorker magazine.
Steve Berg, who has worked at the Star Tribune for 30 years, will not be writing for the paper during the review, said editorial page editor Susan Albright. She cited two editorials, one from Nov. 10 and one from March 27, that contained phrases from or similarities to commentaries by The New Yorker's Hendrik Hertzberg.
"We want you to know that we are taking this matter very seriously," Albright wrote in a note to readers published Thursday. "We have an obligation to everyone involved to be fair and deliberate in evaluating this; it is too serious a matter to jump to any conclusions without a thorough review."
Albright did not immediately return a phone call from The ashociated Press seeking further comment. Berg said he couldn't comment during the review.
Similarities between a Nov. 10 Star Tribune editorial and Hertzberg's Nov. 6 commentary were first brought to light in a Nov. 11 posting on the Twin Cities-based conservative blog Power Line, which has long accused the Star Tribune of having a liberal bias.
Hertzberg, in a Nov. 6 piece criticizing President Bush and the Republican Congress, included this line: "(R)epeated efforts to suppress scientific truth; a set of economic and fiscal policies that have slowed growth, spurred inequality, replenished the ranks of the poor and uninsured, and exacerbated the insecurities of the middle clash."
A pashage from the Star Tribune's Nov. 10 editorial on the same subject read: "Then there's the mounting deficit, the Katrina aftermath, the constant suppression of scientific truth, and the economic policies that exacerbate inequality, heighten middle-clash anxiety and expand the ranks of the poor and uninsured."
In an earlier note, Albright said the writer took notes on the Hertzberg piece with the intention of either directly quoting or attributing material to him, but later failed to distinguish which parts were direct quotes and which were paraphrased ideas.
Albright didn't identify Berg until her editor's note Thursday. She said she had decided to identify him so other writers weren't the subject of speculation.
Power Line also brought to the paper's attention a March 27 Star Tribune editorial on electoral college reform that struck many of the same themes as a March 6 Hertzberg piece.
Here's the Strib's bit.....
Editor's note: Writings to be examined
Published: November 30, 2006
Two weeks ago I wrote in this space about a Nov. 10 editorial that we learned contained, without attribution, phrases from a New Yorker commentary by Hendrik Hertzberg. Since then we have received an inquiry about a March 27 editorial that contained similarities to a March 6 Hertzberg piece.
We want you to know that we are taking this matter very seriously. We have an obligation to everyone involved to be fair and deliberate in evaluating this; it is too serious a matter to jump to any conclusions without a thorough review. Since both of the editorials in question were written by editorial writer Steve Berg, the Star Tribune will conduct a review of his writing over the past year. During this review he will not be writing.
In my editor's note about the Nov. 10 editorial, I did not name the writer. The subsequent questioning of the earlier piece caused us to rethink that stance, since both were written by the same person and other writers were becoming objects of conjecture.
We strive to be candid about our processes and practices, so when the review is completed, I will be writing about this again.
--SUSAN ALBRIGHT
It's nothing new, but once again, have to hope it isn't true......
By PATRICK CONDON, ashociated Press Writer
MINNEAPOLIS - The Star Tribune said it was reviewing a year's worth of work by one of its editorial page writers after finding two of his pieces contained similarities to the work of a writer at The New Yorker magazine.
Steve Berg, who has worked at the Star Tribune for 30 years, will not be writing for the paper during the review, said editorial page editor Susan Albright. She cited two editorials, one from Nov. 10 and one from March 27, that contained phrases from or similarities to commentaries by The New Yorker's Hendrik Hertzberg.
"We want you to know that we are taking this matter very seriously," Albright wrote in a note to readers published Thursday. "We have an obligation to everyone involved to be fair and deliberate in evaluating this; it is too serious a matter to jump to any conclusions without a thorough review."
Albright did not immediately return a phone call from The ashociated Press seeking further comment. Berg said he couldn't comment during the review.
Similarities between a Nov. 10 Star Tribune editorial and Hertzberg's Nov. 6 commentary were first brought to light in a Nov. 11 posting on the Twin Cities-based conservative blog Power Line, which has long accused the Star Tribune of having a liberal bias.
Hertzberg, in a Nov. 6 piece criticizing President Bush and the Republican Congress, included this line: "(R)epeated efforts to suppress scientific truth; a set of economic and fiscal policies that have slowed growth, spurred inequality, replenished the ranks of the poor and uninsured, and exacerbated the insecurities of the middle clash."
A pashage from the Star Tribune's Nov. 10 editorial on the same subject read: "Then there's the mounting deficit, the Katrina aftermath, the constant suppression of scientific truth, and the economic policies that exacerbate inequality, heighten middle-clash anxiety and expand the ranks of the poor and uninsured."
In an earlier note, Albright said the writer took notes on the Hertzberg piece with the intention of either directly quoting or attributing material to him, but later failed to distinguish which parts were direct quotes and which were paraphrased ideas.
Albright didn't identify Berg until her editor's note Thursday. She said she had decided to identify him so other writers weren't the subject of speculation.
Power Line also brought to the paper's attention a March 27 Star Tribune editorial on electoral college reform that struck many of the same themes as a March 6 Hertzberg piece.
Here's the Strib's bit.....
Editor's note: Writings to be examined
Published: November 30, 2006
Two weeks ago I wrote in this space about a Nov. 10 editorial that we learned contained, without attribution, phrases from a New Yorker commentary by Hendrik Hertzberg. Since then we have received an inquiry about a March 27 editorial that contained similarities to a March 6 Hertzberg piece.
We want you to know that we are taking this matter very seriously. We have an obligation to everyone involved to be fair and deliberate in evaluating this; it is too serious a matter to jump to any conclusions without a thorough review. Since both of the editorials in question were written by editorial writer Steve Berg, the Star Tribune will conduct a review of his writing over the past year. During this review he will not be writing.
In my editor's note about the Nov. 10 editorial, I did not name the writer. The subsequent questioning of the earlier piece caused us to rethink that stance, since both were written by the same person and other writers were becoming objects of conjecture.
We strive to be candid about our processes and practices, so when the review is completed, I will be writing about this again.
--SUSAN ALBRIGHT
