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Plagiarism at the Daily Beast--Veteran journalist Gerald Posner concedes that he lifted
#1
Giggle.

I concede that I lifted the below from Slate. But I do believe it was inadvertent.


http://www.slate.com/id/2243850/

"Veteran journalist Gerald Posner concedes that he lifted from the Miami Herald.

By Jack Shafer
Posted Friday, Feb. 5, 2010, at 3:18 PM ET

Veteran journalist Gerald Posner acknowledged today that he copied five sentences from a Miami Herald article this week for a piece he wrote for the Daily Beast. The Daily Beast appended an editor's note to the beginning of Posner's piece today, explaining that the copying was "inadvertent" and that the Daily Beast has deleted the copied passages.

Here are the relevant sentences from the Feb. 2 Miami Herald story by Julie Brown, which was about a local murder and estate battle:

The Novacks, who wed in 1991, had a tumultuous marriage. In 2002, Narcy Novack and two others tied Novack Jr. to a chair, threatened to kill him and removed money from his safe, according to the police report.

"If I can't have you, no one else will," she told him, according to a divorce petition he filed and later dropped.

At the time, Narcy Novack told police the incident was part of a sex game.

She also showed them pornographic pictures of women with artificial limbs, claiming her husband had a fetish for them.

Here are the sentences that have been redacted from Posner's Feb. 2 Daily Beast piece:

There is little doubt the Novacks had a volatile relationship. In 2002, 11 years into their marriage, Narcy and two others tied Ben Jr. to a chair, threatened to kill him and took money from his safe, according to the police report filed at the time.

"If I can't have you, no one else will," she told him, according to a divorce petition Ben Jr. filed and then dropped.

Narcy told police investigators at the time that the entire episode was part of a sex game. And she also showed them porno snapshots of women with artificial limbs having sex, claiming her husband had a fetish for them.

(Here's a cached version of the original Posner article.)

In 2008, Jack Shafer caught a New York Times reporter plagiarizing not once but twice. In 2006, Shafer explained why plagiarists do it and knocked the big-shot novelists for giving Ian McEwan a bye on the charge. See also Timothy Noah's complete chronicle of Doris Kearns Goodwin's adventures in plagiarism.

When asked whether what Posner did was plagiarism, Daily Beast Executive Editor Edward Felsenthal didn't dodge. Reading aloud from the definition of plagiarism on Dictionary.com—"the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work"—he agreed that that's what Posner did. "Yeah, you'd have to say it's plagiarism," he said. "I do believe it was inadvertent."

Posner, the Daily Beast's chief investigative reporter, didn't make any excuses, either. And he made no effort to escape the P-word, which writers caught stealing copy usually do.

Stating that he was "horrified" at what he did, Posner agreed that it constitutes plagiarism. But he couldn't figure out how he did it.

He said he had no memory of having seen the Herald story, describing himself as "absolutely sure" he did not see it before sending his own story to Beast editors. But that memory must be wrong, he said, because the similarities between the two pieces are too great, and the Herald's story was posted before he e-mailed his to his editors at 2:03 a.m. on Feb. 2.

"I must have had the Miami Herald there and copied." He regards the subtle differences between his copy and the Herald's as evidence of him "doing the rewrite" of what he thought was his copy.

Posner is no stranger to the story he plagiarized, having covered elements of it for his 2009 book Miami Babylon: Crime Wealth and Power—A Dispatch From the Beach. He has continued to gather material on it for the book's upcoming paperback edition. Citing primary documents in his possession and his own original reporting, he said that he didn't have to plagiarize the Herald to write his Beast story.

But, again, he's not making excuses. He also refused to soft-pedal in any way what he did because it was inadvertent, as many plagiarists do. "The act is the act," he said.

Posner said he's always been tough on plagiarists and has long believed that people who get caught taking other people's copy should say this: "I am humbled by it, and it will not happen again."

"There is no excuse," he said, repeatedly expressing his regret. "I take full responsibility."

According to Felsenthal, Posner will continue to write for the Beast.

"I'm convinced this was an unintentional aberration in an extraordinary career breaking news and doing top quality journalism with high ethical standards," Felsenthal said.

******

Thanks to the reader who alerted me to the similarities between the two pieces. Keep those tips coming to slate.pressbox@gmail.com, and if you're of a mind, make George Packer angry by reading my Twitter feed. (E-mail may be quoted by name in "The Fray," Slate's readers' forum; in a future article; or elsewhere unless the writer stipulates otherwise. Permanent disclosure: Slate is owned by the Washington Post Co.)"
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#2
Priceless isn't it?
I like this bit :
Quote:"I'm convinced this was an unintentional aberration in an extraordinary career breaking news and doing top quality journalism with high ethical standards"
:rofl::rofl::rofl: Other people's top quality journalism that is.
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx

"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.

“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
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#3
Laughgood ole da poz does it again..that nose is growing and growing...he'll never change he only gets worse...:vollkommenauf:.b


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#4
Aberrations do happen.

Ask any politician...
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
Carl Jung - Aion (1951). CW 9, Part II: P.14
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#5
Yes, didn't Bliar lift some students writing?
"The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it." Karl Marx

"He would, wouldn't he?" Mandy Rice-Davies. When asked in court whether she knew that Lord Astor had denied having sex with her.

“I think it would be a good idea” Ghandi, when asked about Western Civilisation.
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#6
Didn't Cherie Blair lift some "free" houses from a convicted fraudster?
The shadow is a moral problem that challenges the whole ego-personality, for no one can become conscious of the shadow without considerable moral effort. To become conscious of it involves recognizing the dark aspects of the personality as present and real. This act is the essential condition for any kind of self-knowledge.
Carl Jung - Aion (1951). CW 9, Part II: P.14
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