Stealing quotes

[kingcreole]

I believe this happened to me today. I saw a quote in a story I did in another paper. I was the only writer at the game, and since the quote I used was verbatim and I know the coach would not have talked to this other paper, I know it was lifted from my story.

Anything I should do? Let it roll off my back? Contact the other paper? What?

 

[Moderator1]

No credit at all? Nothing?

 

[kingcreole]

No credit at all? Nothing?

No. Not in the online edition any way. We get the other paper a day late, so I'm at least waiting until I see the actual newspaper to do anything at all. But I highly doubt there was any credit, since there was none online.

 

[Moderator1]

My guess is you are right.
Check and make sure. Then have your manager contact their manager. Right away.

 

[kingcreole]

My guess is you are right.
Check and make sure. Then have your manager contact their manager. Right away.

I guess my concern is is this plagiarism? The quote was not my original thought, obviously. It's the coach's.

 

[TheHacker]

Happens all the freakin' time. Shouldn't, but it does. I once had a guy from a larger paper steal quotes and information I had previously reported with no mention they came from my paper. And somehow, in the process of lifting quotes wholesale, he managed to get the person's name wrong. Moral of the story is, if you're going to steal, at least take the time to copy the stuff correctly.

 

[Moderator1]

Not outright plagiarism but still quite wrong. If you did not get the quote, if you lifted from another source, you MUST attribute. You MUST. It is fine for you to take it but you MUST attribute.

"Yada Yada," coach so and so told The Daily Planet.

It ain't that hard.

If it is the first offense, I don't think the guy should get canned. But he should be warned and maybe suspended. Somebody was suspended for this not that long ago but the details escape me.

 

[Trey Beamon]

What about factual information (stats, etc)?

I'm at a weekly and often take stuff -- never bylined work/quotes, however -- from the local daily. We're owned by the same company, yet for whatever reason, don't share stories/information.

 

[Batman]

What are the general rules on this for AP stories? A lot of times they'll move a story with a basic AP slug that includes a quote along the lines of, "Joe Quarterback shouldn't have punched that guy in the throat," Coach Johnson told the Daily Planet of Metropolis.
Here at the Podunk Press, we'll sometimes edit that down to "Coach Johnson said." during the cutting process.
If it still has an AP slug on it, is that OK?

 

[Moderator1]

I'd be real careful there. If AP felt the attribution ought to be there, you probably ought to leave it there. "Second degree" lifting is still lifting.

And the problem with stats - suppose they are wrong?

We had a radio guy here in town for a while, used to do an early morning report. He read our paper on the air, basically. Denied it but that's what he was doing.
So one day I'm driving in and I hear him say something and it is flat-out wrong. I check, sure enough, we were flat-out wrong on the same fact.
At least it ended his charade.

It doesn't make you a bad journalist to attribute. Just do it.

 

[kingcreole]

I agree with Moddy about just attribute, baby. I think if/when I see the regular paper and there's no attribution, a phone call will be made. It's a courtesy thing. If they wanted a quote, I wasn't going to say "No."

 

[Jake_Taylor]

I've got a related question. A local story here is getting a little bit of national attention and I've seen national columnists using the quotes from the press conference. These guys weren't there and the quote was printed in about 10 different publications, but they are just using the quote without saying how they got it. Should they be giving anyone credit? If so, who?

 

[BYH]

I've got a related question. A local story here is getting a little bit of national attention and I've seen national columnists using the quotes from the press conference. These guys weren't there and the quote was printed in about 10 different publications, but they are just using the quote without saying how they got it. Should they be giving anyone credit? If so, who?

Told reporters.

Crap, it's not that difficult. Two extra words. "told reporters."

To me, if you're not there, take quotes from a heavily attended presser and fail to add the "told reporters," it's just as misleading as swiping quotes from a competitor.

 

[awriter]

I believe this happened to me today. I saw a quote in a story I did in another paper. I was the only writer at the game, and since the quote I used was verbatim and I know the coach would not have talked to this other paper, I know it was lifted from my story.

Anything I should do? Let it roll off my back? Contact the other paper? What?

Call the coach first, just to make sure he didn't speak to the other paper. Then tell your boss(es).

 

[da man]

I've got a related question. A local story here is getting a little bit of national attention and I've seen national columnists using the quotes from the press conference. These guys weren't there and the quote was printed in about 10 different publications, but they are just using the quote without saying how they got it. Should they be giving anyone credit? If so, who?

Told reporters.

Crap, it's not that difficult. Two extra words. "told reporters."

To me, if you're not there, take quotes from a heavily attended presser and fail to add the "told reporters," it's just as misleading as swiping quotes from a competitor.

When I was at a large metro paper, I took this issue up the ladder asking how to attribute quotes posted on the Internet by teams and/or leagues. Got all the way to the top -- executive editor -- who said no attribution is necessary. If they post the quotes from a news conference, it's just like you were there. One example he gave is a quote sheet distributed by a team after a game. You can use those with no attribution, but you didn't actually hear the guy say it yourself. You also wouldn't have to attribute quotes if you were watching a video feed.

I use posted quotes quite a bit in columns and I don't attribute them. Taking something from a paper or from a story on a team's Web site is different and must be attributed. But raw quotes from a press conference posted by the team? I'd say they're fair game.

 

[Smasher_Sloan]

I've attributed quotes to competing papers and the desk has removed the name of the paper.

For that reason, don't be 100 percent sure the guy who wrote the story didn't give credit. Someone on my desk had a fetish about mentioning another paper. My motivation was ass-covering more than anything. If the quote wasn't correct, at least I'd sourced it.

 

[Oscar Madison]

I've attributed quotes to competing papers and the desk has removed the name of the paper.

For that reason, don't be 100 percent sure the guy who wrote the story didn't give credit. Someone on my desk had a fetish about mentioning another paper. My motivation was ass-covering more than anything. If the quote wasn't correct, at least I'd sourced it.

In that case, I'd just say: "We're taking it one game at a time," coach Joe Smoe said in a published report.

 

[HeinekenMan]

Maybe your conversations are being recorded. Do you sometimes hear a high-pitched squeal?

Do your fillings hurt during post-game interviews?

If it's an indirect quote, there's a chance that this person asked a question and got a similar answer. If it's a direct quote, however, I think you have a legitimate beef.

 

[Tom Petty]

What are the general rules on this for AP stories? A lot of times they'll move a story with a basic AP slug that includes a quote along the lines of, "Joe Quarterback shouldn't have punched that guy in the throat," Coach Johnson told the Daily Planet of Metropolis.
Here at the Podunk Press, we'll sometimes edit that down to "Coach Johnson said." during the cutting process.
If it still has an AP slug on it, is that OK?

yes it is. said paper turned story into ap to use any way it wanted. you are crediting "the source" when you put an ap at the top of the story. i added those "bill johnson told the drippydick press" a 1,000 times when i was in news. ap chose to delete about 50 percent of 'em and leave the other 50 percent in willy nilly.

it's not up to your paper to pimp another if they choose to let ap put its byline atop one of their stories.

 

[Just_An_SID]

You can also use "Told ESPN.com's ______________."

They get everything first.