Telling the Truth and Nothing

Home , Charles Seife, City editor, Digital First Media, Fareed Zakaria, Janet Cooke, Jayson Blair

DIGITAL NEWSBOOK

Telling theTrut h and Nothing But

National Summit to Fight PLAGIARISM & FABRICATION SHOW CONTENTS Telling the Truth 2 Contents 1 5 Hearing the Call Preparing Pages 3-4 for Tomorrow 2 Pages 44-48 Defining 6 the Problem Participants Pages 5-15 Pages 49-57 3 7 Building Barriers Notable Incidents Pages 16-30 Pages 58-64 4 8 Responding What They’re to Lapses Saying Pages 31-43 Pages 65-66 Sources Pages 67-71

More information about the National Summit to Fight Plagiarism & Fabrication can be found on the American Copy Editors Society website at: www.copydesk.org/plagiarism/.

3Cover show sources CHAPTER 14 Telling the Truth 3 1 Hearing the Call he impetus for this project ers of other organizations to nominate was a column that appeared on members of a task force to begin the the Poynter Institute’s website in campaign that Silverman envisioned. TSeptember 2012. In it, Craig Silverman She proposed a “summit” meeting at deplored a “cavalcade of plagiarism, fab- her organization’s annual conference rication and unethical recycling” during in April 2013 to discuss the findings the previous few months, a period he de- and recommendations of the task force. scribed as journalism’s “Summer of Sin.” Within a month of Silverman’s Silverman urged the major journal- challenge, planning had begun under ism organizations to “gather what ma- the direction of William G. Connolly, terial and policies they have and deter- a retired New York Times editor and a mine what guidance they can offer to longtime member of the ACES execu- newsrooms.” The ultimate result of that tive committee. A doctoral dissertation effort, he wrote, on plagiarism by Norman P. Lewis, an “would be clear guidelines for assistant professor at the University of plagiarism and fabrication and a Florida, became the starting point for consistent process for investigating the inquiry, and Lewis was drafted as and communicating about these an adviser to the task force. incidents internally and externally.” Starting with a conference call on Teresa Schmedding, the president of Nov. 26, 23 volunteers representing the American Copy Editors Society, re- 10 professional organizations formed sponded to that call by urging the lead- themselves into three committees un-

der the leadership of Henry Fuhrmann, they helped finance. Words or passages an assistant managing editor of The Los in bold indicate links to web pages. To Angeles Times; Bob Heisse, executive see the links, which are collected in the editor of The State Journal-Register in “Sources” pages, touch or click on SHOW Springfield, Ill.; and Nancy A. Sharkey, SOURCES at the bottom of the page. To a professor of practice in the School of return to the text, touch or click on the Journalism at the University of Arizona. page number to the left of the link. Vital support for the project was pro- This study is not very long and cer- vided by the Ethics and Excellence in tainly not scholarly. Our hope is that Journalism Foundation and the Reyn- it’s sufficiently provocative and prac- olds Journalism Institute at the Univer- tical to prompt in every newsroom in sity of Missouri School of Journalism. every medium a habit of asking a ques- The text that follows is the prod- tion that’s been grunted by generations uct of those investments and the work of grizzled editors: “Says who?” u Participating Organizations The following organizations have lent support to the project. Journalism groups Companies Institutions American Copy Editors Society AOL, Inc. Doane College Associated Press Media Editors The Chicago Tribune Media Law Center for Ethics and American Society of News Editors Daily Herald Media Group Access, Kent State University The Poynter Institute Canadian Association of The Dallas Morning News Journalists Digital First Media Scripps Howard First Amendment Center, University of Kentucky College Media Association The Los Angeles Times KOMU-TV University of Arizona Journalism and Womens University of Florida Symposium Morris Communications University of Kansas Local Independent Online News National Public Radio Publishers The Omaha World-Herald University of Massachusetts University of Missouri Online News Association The State Journal-Register Special thanks to the Reynolds Radio, Television, Digital News TucsonSentinel.com Journalism Institute for Association WGCU Public Media producing this e-book. Visit: Society of Professional Journalists Yahoo News www.rjionline.org/newsbooks

3CONTENTS SHOW SOURCES CHAPTER 24 Telling the Truth 5 2 Defining the Problem lagiarism is presenting ing first produced by someone else. someone else’s language or Journalists must know how legal work as your own. Whether it concepts such as copyright, fair use and Pis deliberate or the result of careless- trademarks apply to the profession. But ness, such appropriation should be they must go beyond minimum legal re- considered unacceptable because it quirements to serve the public interest hides the sources of information from and treat creators fairly. Although one the audience. Every act of plagiarism cannot legally protect an idea — only its betrays the public’s trust, violates the specific expression in a tangible medi- creator of the original material and um is subject to copyright protection — diminishes the offender, our craft and journalists should attribute the original, our industry. distinctive or seminal ideas of others The best way to avoid plagiarism is to when the ideas form a substantial basis attribute information, a practice avail- for their own work. able in any medium. Credit should be With all of this in mind, we affirm given for information that is not com- a golden rule of attribution: Principled mon knowledge: facts, theories, opin- professionals credit the work of others, ions, statistics, photos, videos, graphics, treating others as they would like to be drawings, quotations or original word- treated themselves.

We believe that principled news the solution: attribution. In doing so, organizations develop and enforce in- we drew upon the research of Norman ternal standards regarding plagiarism, Lewis of the University of Florida, attribution and fabrication. They make whose authoritative doctoral disserta- clear to their staffs that transgressions tion on newspaper plagiarism provided are unacceptable. They nurture a cul- an intellectual guidepost, and on the ture of truth-telling by spelling out editorial policies of numerous news- the rules; by providing mandatory and rooms and news associations. A close continual training to prevent infrac- reading of our thoughts will therefore tions; and by dealing with transgres- reveal echoes of the work of fellow sions forthrightly, firmly and fairly. journalists, notably those who crafted The results are accuracy, honesty, the standards in place at The Seattle transparency, informed audiences and Times and National Public Radio, better journalism. among others, and the guidelines Journalism itself is founded on the advocated by the Radio Television public’s right to know about our wider Digital News Association and other society, its institutions and its leaders. respected industry organizations. To extend this idea, the public that As a group of professionals drawn consumes our journalism has a right from the print, broadcast and digital to know how we do our work, where worlds, from newsrooms and class- we gathered our information, how we rooms, from individual organizations know what we know; that we are tell- and industry associations, we decided ing them, to the best of our ability, the at the outset that our definition must whole truth and nothing but. apply to any medium in which journalists work. After all, few news organizations these days produce only a single The solution: attribution product. Newspapers and magazines In attempting to define plagiarism, we publish websites and apps, attract- started with the presumption that we ing more readers digitally than they would have to couple the problem to could ever reach in print. Broadcasters

We maintain that online, as in all other media, respect for the work of others through clear, appropriate attribution is the best method to uphold the principles we value.

are similarly using new media to ex- hyper-competitive nature of the mar- tend their already wide reach. Digital ketplace and the very real constraints news sites employ video, audio and of air time. We nevertheless challenge other tools, showing the way for more that vital segment of the industry to traditional media. All of this is linked embrace a stronger standard for attri- by social media, which bring our read- bution. ers, viewers, listeners and users more While online news sites employ the directly under our journalistic tent. familiar forms of text, images, audio As the industry continues its deep im- and video mixed with reporting tech- mersion in new media, crossing from niques available only in digital media, platform to platform, it makes sense the ease with which material may be for journalists to carry their standards copied and the speed of innovation with them. create their own tests of professional Although the tools of the trade dif- standards. We maintain that online, as fer by medium — and the means of in all other media, respect for the work proper attribution differ accordingly of others through clear, appropriate at- — we believe that it is essential to as- tribution is the best method to uphold sert the same principled standards and the principles we value. approaches for operating on different Attribution is both a professional platforms. We recognize that broad- responsibility and a good business casting presents special challenges practice. Online readers, for example, because of long-held traditions, the have indicated that they find reporting

containing links to be more authorita- trust. Whatever the motivation, the tive. In an era when media institutions outcome is the same: Everyone suffers. are suspect, heeding the ethic of trans- Intent — to the degree that it can parency on all platforms reinforces the be ascertained — should influence position of professional journalists as how an organization decides to handle credible sources of information. More- transgressions by its journalists. Suc- over, clear attribution may challenge ceeding chapters in this treatise speak journalists to do better and deeper authoritatively to those issues. But it’s work, help stem the rapid spread of time to reject an all-too-common de- error in breaking-news situations and fense — “I didn’t mean it” — and to cultivate collaboration while driving focus on education, training and the competition. setting of clear standards. It’s time to We broadened our definition of call plagiarism what it is. It’s time to plagiarism to cover the realm of ideas, assert strong standards and campaign encouraging practitioners throughout for their broad acceptance, time to rec- the industry to more generously and ognize our industry’s recent transgres- forthrightly cite the seminal, distinc- sions and reshape the future. There’s tive work of others from whom they no time like now. draw inspiration in creating their own original works. An unavoidable complication in any Fabrication discussion of plagiarism is intent. Was Fabrication is often linked to plagia- the plagiarism deliberate? Was it inad- rism but in some ways is its opposite: vertent? Any effort to define journalis- Whereas plagiarism is using without tic standards must, in our view, consid- attribution material produced by some- er the recipients of the journalism, not one else and assumed to be factual, just the producers. Plagiarism harms fabrication is making up material and the creator of the original material, our publishing it in the guise of truth. Both craft, our industry — but just as cru- are acts of deception. Both are wrong, cially, it is a violation of the audience’s but fabrication is especially egregious.

Journalists are committed to seeking audience before it is presented. Sources and presenting the truth. Knowingly must occasionally be shielded for their creating false material or deliberately protection, but pseudonyms should not altering reported material is therefore be employed to identify them. A pseud- violating the most fundamental func- onym amounts to a fabricated name tions of journalism. Regardless of the and thus raises the question: What else platform, fabrication destroys the cred- in this story may be made up? ibility of offending journalists, calling Images should not be edited or en- into question the validity of all their hanced in a manner that would mislead previous work. the reader and convey an untruth. Photo Journalists should never create illustrations should be clearly labeled as sources who don’t exist or pretend to such. The code of ethics of the National quote people they haven’t interviewed. Press Photographers Association in- They should not pose as eyewitnesses structs: “Editing should maintain the in describing a scene or event they did integrity of the photographic images’ not see firsthand. They should not alter content and context. Do not manipu- a quotation to change its meaning or late images or add or alter sound in any use an answer from one question as the way that can mislead viewers or mis- response to another. Datelines should represent subjects.” reflect where reporting was done and To put it simply, a journalist should not suggest falsely that reporters were never lie to the audience or be a witting somewhere they were not. party to the lie of another. Although some fine columnists of previous eras created imaginary per- sonas as a literary device, the practice Broadcasting: A call to action is never acceptable in a news article. All journalists would agree that taking Any attempt at re-enactment or char- someone else’s work violates the prin- acter creation — including the creation ciples that are the foundation of our of composite characters — must be industry and our organizations. But clearly and completely explained to the to what extent do broadcast journal-

ists commit plagiarism when perform- own, but must give credit in its broad- ing “rewrite” — taking copy from wire cast to the original author. services, network feeds or their own In its code of ethics, the Radio newscasts and recasting it to produce a Television Digital News Associa- more conversational delivery, add facts tion prohibits plagiarism and cautions from different sources or aid the read- that professional electronic journalists ing style of a particular anchor? should not Broadcast journalists traditionally “report anything known to be view the work of their print and digital false; manipulate images or counterparts as avenues of opportuni- sounds in any way that is mislead- ty. When the day dawns with its fresh ing; plagiarize or present images or sounds that are re-enacted reporting cycle, broadcast news desks without informing the public.” everywhere begin to look for the next big story. What has happened over- A specific broadcast assignment night? What angle has been missed? growing out of the active monitoring What event may be coming up that of other sources should not merely fits the audience demographic? All of copy or mirror someone else’s original these questions are raised as news di- creation. Whatever the inspiration for rectors, managing editors and assign- a story, it should still generally require ment managers aggressively explore checking with sources for new leads metro and community newspapers, and using good sense in assembling the online news sites, even other broadcast pieces of a puzzle, all with the goal of reports. We recognize this as a com- producing a fresh story that serves the mon, accepted practice in broadcast audience. journalism. To that end, we advocate these hard But monitoring other sources comes rules regarding broadcasting and pla- with distinct responsibilities. The giarism: broadcaster must not give the impres- l The physical lifting and broadcast- sion that a story that comes from print ing of someone else’s words, im- or another medium is a creation of its ages, audio, video or other work

is always plagiarism and is never porting, does not run afoul of pla- ethical behavior. giarism restrictions and does not demand the same level of credit as l When broadcasting what print or does repeating another’s work in a other media are reporting, on-air way that does not advance the story. credit is appropriate and links or written acknowledgment of origi- The key to combating plagiarism nal sources should be included in in television and radio reporting is a the online versions of broadcast determination to generate original sto- pieces. But giving credit should not ries, looking for second-day ledes to be construed as a free pass for the pieces that may have originated else- verbatim lifting of copy from those where and providing clear, complete original stories. attribution for work derived from oth- l An exception to crediting stories er sources. In light of shrinking news- from other news sources may exist room budgets, plagiarism may have to for those distributed through net- be redefined to take account of former work, syndication or wire service competitors sharing resources and feeds that are contractually intend- working together to tell stories that ed for use, either verbatim or for re- serve the public interest. write, without credit. For example, television and radio network-feed Print: More to be done services are available to stations by paid subscription to use at will in When Norman Lewis undertook his newscasts without attribution to doctoral study of journalistic plagiarism the network. Wire services contract he confined his research to daily news- with stations in the same fashion. papers and their decades-long record of malfeasance. When Craig Silverman l Using coverage in other media as a challenged the news industry to address jumping-off point, providing ideas the twin plagues of plagiarism and fab- for broadcasters’ own original re- rication he documented a “Summer of

S in,” drawing much of his recent evi- Walter Cronkite School of Journalism dence from newspapers and magazines. and Mass Communication at Arizona Clearly, even in print, with its hal- State University offer clear, direct advice: lowed traditions and stated aspirations “Quote and attribute: Use the to the highest standards, journalists exact words in quotation marks must do a better job of attributing, and include who said it or wrote crediting and documenting. They must it. Paraphrase and attribute: Use your own words, but still include adopt practices that serve the audience who said it or wrote it.” and fellow creators alike while providing a first defense against plagiarism. Quotation marks are only part of Journalists might understandably the answer. Taking a quote from an- start the conversation with a question: other publication without crediting the How much information — a word, a source is plagiarism, pure and simple. phrase, a sentence — can be copied Similarly, using a quote from a press without committing plagiarism? That’s release without disclosing its source the wrong approach. It is more pro- is misleading, suggesting that it came ductive to look for reasons to attribute from an interview or that it is the first- information more often, more clearly, hand knowledge of the reporter. more generously. By the same token, vague references As Lewis’ research has shown, most such as “reportedly,” “sources said” instances of plagiarism in print can be and “according to authorities” are not classified as “garden variety,” the tak- enough. They do little to inform while ing of someone else’s work by verbatim giving journalists a false sense that copying and pasting. Proper attribu- they have fulfilled their obligation to tion would prevent nearly all such cases. the audience. Attribution should serve Over time, more attribution will lead to to answer questions, not raise them. less plagiarism. With that in mind, we (And journalists should not exagger- advocate the following best practices: ate; a single source is not “sources.”) Punctuation, wording, placement. Context and other narrative con- The guidelines on plagiarism of the cerns will dictate where to place

attribution and how often to use it. cations. By any name, what Lehrer did The goal in all instances should be to was wrong: In no case should journal- connect the information being cited ists copy material they have written for and the underlying sources as closely previous employers. and as clearly as possible, with the And by any name, the copying of audience always in mind. one’s prior work — either as an indi- Using (and reusing) work by others. vidual journalist or as a news organi- Many publications rely on wire services, zation — calls for common-sense pre- syndicates and other outside providers. cautions. On the one hand, the practice The Los Angeles Times’ ethics guide- can be effective. An example is the lines offer succinct advice for handling reuse of previously vetted background such material: “We conduct our own re- language in a running news story that porting, but when we rely on the work is being updated or followed up fre- of others, we credit them. When wire quently over the course of a news cycle reports are used, we should clearly at- or many days. Such material generally tribute the source in the narrative.” The would not require attribution. Seattle Times goes into greater detail, On the other hand, the older the covering the melding of multiple wire material the greater are the risks and services, bylining and crediting, and thus the need for clear attribution: “as other everyday situations. the Journal reported at the time of his The practice of reusing previously conviction,” for example, or “as she published material raises an intrigu- told the Times while serving her first ing question: Can one self-plagiarize? term.” Information from the archives Perhaps a better way to frame the dis- may have become outdated or may cussion is to consider the term “recy- have been wrong but never corrected cling material without disclosure,” as publicly. Publication in the past does discussed in a Poynter Institute post not absolve the current user of the need about Jonah Lehrer’s serial reuse in The to cross-check facts, draw from multi- New Yorker and Wired of material he ple sources and otherwise take respon- had previously written for other publi- sibility for getting things right.

Jonathan Bailey offers a simple cre- online news organizations can find in- do at his website Plagiarism Today: “If spiration for follow-up reporting in the attribution can be done, it should be work of others. But online journalists done. It’s not only the right thing to do, must accept the same responsibilities but the best for journalism in gener- as their broadcasting counterparts. al.” He makes a further commendable Unique to online journalism is the point: “Though there’s no shame in us- ease with which work can be copied ing information from previous reports, and distributed. That has spawned journalists need to focus on what they the revival of aggregation and cura- can add to the news. By acknowledging tion, techniques that flourished in what came before, the focus is put back newspapers of the Revolutionary era, on what’s new.” in the broadsheets of the abolitionists and in such early newsmagazines as Luce’s Time. Online aggregation is the Online: The wild, wild web reposting of another’s work, generally Technology has enabled reporters to wholesale through automatic scrap- produce accurate and timely news on- ing or parsing of an RSS feed, without line, often in creative ways without the additional reporting. Curation is the inherent restrictions of other platforms. individual selection and posting of a Technology has also made online pla- portion of another’s work, usually with giarism quick and easy. The lifting of added material. others’ work — including blatant copy- While some copying of others’ ma- right infringement, credited or not — is terial may be considered “fair use,” common. Work in other media has been journalists working online should take lifted by websites, and the reporting of special care to ensure that they do not digital journalists has likewise been pla- infringe another’s copyright. Automat- giarized, online and otherwise. Neither ic aggregation, even with attribution, practice is acceptable. should never cross the boundaries of Like broadcast organizations (and, in- fair use and professional respect. The deed, most news outlets in any medium), reproduction of inappropriately large

…the practices of social media offer lessons in how journalists can do a better job of attribution regardless of medium or technology.

portions of text may discourage a read- example, sourcing a video clip to You- er from visiting the original work. Tube rather than the poster is akin to Curated work should also be clearly sourcing a print news story to the press attributed. Curators should strive to that reproduced it. go beyond merely reposting another’s Some platforms create further chal- work, possibly including references to lenges to attribution. On Twitter, for ex- multiple news sources or original re- ample, another’s authorship can be in- porting, context or commentary. dicated through the use of RT and MT The advent of user-generated con- (“retweet” and “modified tweet”) with tent and work posted by others on so- an @ link to the creator’s profile. Other cial media raises additional issues that social media sites have similar methods can best be met by attribution and re- or tools to assist with attribution, such spect for copyright. The challenges in as the “via” sharing option on Facebook. verifying such content make transpar- Indeed, the practices of social media ency in sourcing necessary — not just offer lessons in how journalists can do ethically but practically. Not all crowd- a better job of attribution regardless of sourced material is credible, but its use medium or technology. If a tweet pecked by professional journalists implies that out on a cellphone can convey proper at- it is based in the truth. tribution through an RT, an @ citation Questions of copyright and fair use and a hyperlink in only 140 characters, aside, it is always good practice to iden- there is no excuse for journalists operat- tify the work’s creator in the clearest ing with greater freedom in print, online possible manner. The use of platform or broadcasting. The simple words “As credit alone does not suffice — for reported by … ” can go a long way. u

3CHAPTER 1 SHOW SOURCES CHAPTER 34 Telling the Truth 16 3 Building Barriers Who plagiarizes or fabricates?

ogic might suggest that Well, it ain’t necessarily so. amateur writers, specifically Some anecdotal data suggest that bloggers, would be more likely plagiarism among inexperienced writ- Lto plagiarize or fabricate than “profes- ers isn’t very common, though it may sionals,” people familiar with the re- be increasing. “I can say with author- porting, writing and editing standards ity we’re seeing more of it … in various that are common in newsrooms and courses and at all levels,” said Jan Leach, journalism schools. Similarly, it would an associate journalism professor at seem logical to assume that an inex- Kent State University, director of the perienced journalist — a student, say university’s Media Law Center for Eth- — would be more apt to offend than ics and Access and an ethics fellow at a veteran. And one might assume that the Poynter Institute. But, she said, she journalists in larger newsrooms, who encounters only about one case a year. have access to more resources and are Instructors at three universities in subject to more editing scrutiny, would Nebraska — Creighton University, the be less likely to offend than their col- University of Nebraska-Lincoln and leagues in smaller operations. the University of Nebraska Omaha —

offered similar estimates on how often ging makes it difficult to track for pla- they encounter plagiarism or fabrica- giarism. Because blogging “happens on tion, ranging from almost never to a the fly,” Chu said, “it’s a challenge to few times a year. Several respondents measure that and quantify it.” said they’d encountered plagiarism Jonathan Bailey, who maintains the among students only once in their site Plagiarism Today, says bloggers teaching careers. who actually plagiarize are a “small mi- But the accounts of students them- nority.” He cites spam blogs and people selves indicate that the incidence of pla- who post in foreign countries as being giarism may be much higher. Norman major offenders, along with those with Lewis of the University of Florida and a presence on social media sites like Bu Zhong, an associate professor of Tumblr and, formerly, MySpace. Bai- communications at Penn State Univer- ley said that bloggers who make the ef- sity, reported in the December 2011 is- fort to set up professional-looking sites sue of the journal Journalism & Mass seem much less likely to plagiarize. Communication Educator that 15.6 And the non-professional sector of percent of the 908 university students the blogosphere can be self-cleansing. they polled from 2006 to 2009 admit- The person who blogs in a strong cen- ted to plagiarizing, about half saying tralized community is not as likely to they had done it more than once. risk plagiarizing as a stand-alone spam Another category of inexperienced blog, Bailey says. The risk of being writers — classic bloggers, or non-jour- caught and shamed for plagiarizing is nalists who offer “web logs” of insights, too great. In that sense, the very small opinions and other information — is players are like the very biggest online not so easily assessed. The iThenticate publishers — each has a paramount company, for example, has no solid interest in protecting a reputation or data on the incidence of the problem brand. among bloggers. Jason Chu, a spokes- One of the big publishers, the Huff- man for iThenticate’s sister company, ington Post, deals with accusations of Turnitin, said the fluid nature of blog- plagiarism from both inside and out-

side, said its executive blog editor, Stuart likely to be caught in plagiarism stud- Whatley — from HuffPost bloggers who ies. Seven of the cases he studied were perceive that their material has been pla- at The New York Times. It’s possible giarized on the outside and from those that other newspapers have had pro- outside it who see HuffPost bloggers as portionately just as many cases of pla- plagiarizing them. Most of the accusa- giarism, but, Lewis wrote, “it is also tions, Whatley said, concern the ideas likely that The Times is more closely expressed rather than precise wording. watched than any other newspaper in But the offenses in blind submissions America.” He added: “That The Times from the outside, he added, are “patch- has the most plagiarism cases in this writing” — feeble paraphrasing — or study is not a reflection of the integrity straight pickups from press releases. of its journalists, but a manifestation of In his 2007 doctoral dissertation, the inspection it receives.” Norman Lewis examined plagiarism Among the other reasons Lewis cites among newspaper professionals, and for the frequency of plagiarism at large his data seem to suggest that plagiarism papers is competition. Large papers occurs more often in larger newsrooms. have more competitors than small ones Thirty-five of the 76 cases he examined so there is an incentive to attribute less were at papers with circulations of — reporters don’t want to admit that more than 250,000. Twenty-four cases they’ve been scooped. occurred at papers with circulations The offenders Lewis studied included between 100,001 and 250,000. And several experienced and respected jour- only seven cases were in newsrooms nalists, two of whom had done Pulitzer with circulations of less than 50,000. Prize-winning work. Forty-four of the Moreover, there were 14,974 newsroom 76 journalists had more than 10 years staff members in the high-circulation of experience. “In short,” Lewis wrote, group, 11,414 in the middle group and “those accused of plagiarism generally 20,534 in the smallest category. are not ignorant rookies or journalistic Lewis noted, though, that staff deadwood.” While these examples don’t members at larger papers are more demonstrate that an experienced writer

is more or less apt to plagiarize, they do that wasn’t worth the time. The fourth indicate that no amount of experience most frequent explanation was that the can rule out the possibility of error. plagiarism was an accident. While fabrication does not seem to Some cases of plagiarism are indeed have earned as much scholarly attention accidental, and pleading accident is as plagiarism, anecdotal evidence would a common defense in professional as suggest that it falls into the same pat- well as academic cases: With the flow terns. It happens among young, eager of work accelerating in daily journal- reporters like Janet Cooke, who became ism as staffs shrink, such explanations infamous in 1980 with the publication may seem more plausible, though the of “Jimmy’s World,” a wholly fabricated offense is no more permissible. sensation that made Page 1 of The Wash- Zachery Kouwe, a 31-year-old busi- ington Post. And it happens among sea- ness reporter who had been at The New soned veterans like Karen Jeffrey of The York Times for a little more than a year Cape Cod Times, who made up scores of in early 2010, says his plagiarism in the people in dozens of stories over 14 years. paper’s DealBook blog and other sections was accidental. In an account he gave to The New York Observer, Kouwe said Why do they do it? that the problem arose from a confusion In some respects, asking why a person of notes and that he did not knowingly plagiarizes or fabricates is like asking plagiarize. But he resigned soon after his why a child pushes a playmate or why transgressions came to light. a motorist runs a red light. They know Another journalist with one of the it’s wrong, but they do it anyway. And country’s most respected newspapers, there’s not always an easy explanation. William Booth, a Washington Post cor- The study of college students by Pro- respondent and bureau chief for Mexi- fessors Lewis and Zhong elicited a wide co, Central America and the Caribbean, range of explanations for its occurrence, plagiarized four sentences from a pro- among them laziness, being pressed for fessor’s journal article. While neither time, unclear rules and an assignment The Post nor Booth described how his

plagiarism occurred, he did not deny porter with 27 years of experience and it in his apology, saying, “This was not three Pulitzer Prizes, copied lines from intentional. It was an inadvertent and two Arizona Republic stories within a sloppy mistake.” Booth was suspended. week. In her apology, she said: “Under A possible explanation for such cases the pressure of tight deadlines, I did is the phenomenon of cryptomnesia, something I have never done in my en- in which a person’s memories resurface tire career. I used another newspaper’s and are believed to be original. “Clearly work as if it were my own. It was wrong. all of us, referring to journalists, prob- It was inexcusable.” ably appropriate phrases or ideas, on occasion, without realizing it,” said Howard Schneider, Stony Brook Uni- Among professionals… versity journalism dean and former Newsday editor, in a 2009 article at pressure is more likely the Daily Beast about “unconscious than inexperience to plagiarism.” explain plagiarism. Some cases, if they aren’t accidental, can be attributed to inexperience. That’s especially true among students. A column by The Post’s ombuds- Sherrie Wilson, associate professor in man, Patrick B. Pexton, sought to pro- the School of Communication at the vide other reasons for the lapse. Among University of Nebraska Omaha, said in them: “According to Post colleagues, a recent study, “In introductory writ- Horwitz was under deadline pressure ing classes, students often don’t under- to file for The Post’s Web site, rushing stand what they’re supposed to attri- to write between two other scheduled bute and how to do it.” interviews for a longer story. And she Among professionals, though, pres- had been helping her mother, who still sure is more likely than inexperience lives in Tucson, with some difficult to explain plagiarism. In March 2011, health issues.” Horwitz was suspended Sari Horwitz, a Washington Post re- for three months without pay.

Her case seems to mirror that of a cooker” in a 2011 CNN article about writer at the other end of the spectrum. his bar application. In April 2009, a University of Massa- chusetts student, Nicole Sobel, plagiarized in a Daily Collegian piece from a What were they thinking? New York Times op-ed article. The blog In some cases, perhaps the explana- NYTPicker called her out, posting tion for plagiarism is simply that it’s so several examples comparing her article easy. There’s never been a medium as with the op-ed piece. Sobel responded friendly and even encouraging to the with an apology that said in part, plagiarist as the Internet. “I was going through alot and was Among the most infamous cases under alot of pressure with school- is that of Jayson Blair, who commit- work, and copied some of the ted plagiarism and fabrication at The article from the NY Times, because New York Times. In a 2012 CBS News I didn’t have the time to write alot report, Blair discussed his problematic of my own stuff that day.” work with Lee Cowan. His first offense, Stephen Glass, who attracted notice he said, was taking a quote from an As- in the late 1990s after it was discovered sociated Press story without crediting that he’d fabricated in dozens of arti- the service. “And a couple of days go cles written for The New Republic and by,” he recalled, “and the thought that other publications, cited another kind goes through my head: ‘I can’t believe of pressure: “I … felt very powerfully no one caught that. I can’t believe that the desire to please my parents, please no one noticed it.’ But the seed was my editors, and to succeed at this,” he planted in my head.” said of his work at The New Republic Asked if he thought he’d be caught, in testimony to the California State Bar Blair replied: Court after he applied to join the bar “You know, it’s kind of the slip- there. Glass’s parents wanted him to be pery slope that starts to happen. a doctor, and his family’s home during I think once you realize that you his youth was described as a “pressure can get away with something,

once you cross over that line, you wrote in his personal blog. “Any somehow have to rationalize how sentences copied by me from pub- I’m a good person and I did this. lished sources were never done So somehow this has to be OK. with the hope or expectation I’d I’ve got to make this OK. So then trick others and get away with it.” it becomes a lot easier to do it.” While Blair readily admitted his er- And Ralph Taylor, a contractor rors, some writers don’t seem to fully working for a Georgia school district, own up. Take, for example, Gerald Pos- produced a 15-page report analyzing ner, a journalist writing for the Daily the district’s alternative education pro- Beast in 2010. He admitted to copying gram, more than a third of which was five sentences from a Miami Herald lifted from other documents. Taylor, story, but said that he didn’t remem- who’d been paid $10,000, acknowl- ber seeing the article. “He said he had edged his “inexcusable mistake” and no memory of having seen the Herald said he would return his fee. But he story,” an article in Slate.com reported, added, “I am not a plagiarist, and pla- “describing himself as ‘absolutely sure’ giarism was not my intent.” he did not see it before sending his own If those who plagiarized uninten- story to Beast editors.” tionally are cause for concern, people “I am humbled by it, and it will not who copy on purpose prompt full- happen again,” Posner said of his pla- blown alarm. Take, for example, the giarism. He later resigned from the science writer Jonah Lehrer. Daily Beast. But a Miami New Times In June 2012, a Lehrer piece in The article two months later reported hav- New Yorker was questioned by Jim ing found 16 more instances of plagia- Romenesko for its similarity to work rism in Posner’s book work. Lehrer had done for The Wall Street Journal in the previous year. Lehrer “Mine is not a case like Jayson had essentially recycled the first three Blair or Stephen Glass where there was either wholesale paragraphs of his earlier work. A deeper copying from others or in some look into his work, published on Slate, instances fabrication,” Posner examined 18 Lehrer pieces, finding

problems with plagiarism, the accuracy That revelation set the staff at a sister of quotes and a failure to correct errors. paper, The Standard-Times in New Bed- Charles Seife, the New York Univer- ford, Mass., thinking about how they sity journalism professor who examined could prevent a similar scandal. “Im- Lehrer’s work, concluded: “In short, I am mediately after the Jeffrey story broke, convinced that Lehrer has a cavalier at- I asked a team of newsroom profession- titude about truth and falsehood. This als and a community member to help shows not only in his attitude toward us find a way to make sure that noth- quotations but in some of the other de- ing like what happened at The Cape Cod tails of his writing. And a journalist who Times would happen here,” wrote Bob repeatedly fails to correct errors when Unger, the editor and associate pub- they’re pointed out is, in my opinion, ex- lisher of SouthCoast Media Group, the hibiting reckless disregard for the truth.” publisher of The Standard-Times. Lehrer resigned from The New Yorker He formed a committee of editors, and said in his apology: reporters and a member of the paper’s “The lies are over now. I under- community advisory board. They de- stand the gravity of my position. veloped a policy, enacted in January I want to apologize to everyone I 2013, that set out a new process for have let down, especially my source verification. editors and readers.” Under that policy, reporters are required to keep for a month “a record of Newsroom policies can help how to contact all sources mentioned in Journalists at The Cape Cod Times were their stories.” Each week an editor ran- stunned when they learned in 2012 that domly selects three reporters or regular a longtime colleague, Karen Jeffrey, was freelancers. The editor chooses one arti- a serial fabricator. The Times published cle, checks the accuracy of all its quotes, a front-page apology explaining that numbers and statistics, then verifies a review of her work had left the paper that all of its sources exist. The editor “unable to find 69 people in 34 stories also does a spot check of one story from since 1998.” each of the other selected writers.

With that policy, which was shared That’s a clear directive, and it’s with readers in Unger’s column, The echoed, albeit at greater length, in other Standard-Times became one of very policies. The Denver Post puts it this way: few news organizations that conduct “Acts of plagiarism or fabrication post-publication checks to weed out announce to the world that the fabrication and error. It is also one of writer did not have the honesty, the few publications that have invited a skill, savvy or energy to do the work that someone else per- member of the community to help de- formed. Information, quotes and velop such a policy. passages from another publication Just as The Standard-Times was must be attributed.” announcing its new approach, The To- ronto Star, Canada’s largest-circulation The Seattle Times policy says: English-language daily, suffered two “Readers deserve to know where incidents of plagiarism, one of them The Times gets the information it publishes. Plagiarism deprives involving an op-ed piece submitted them of that knowledge.” by a Toronto public school official. In response, said the public editor, Kathy The ethics policy of the Bay Area English, The Star bought access to pla- News Group in California includes this giarism-detection software, Poynter’s passage: Andrew Beaujon reported. “Employees should not plagiarize, The Standard-Times and The Star are whether it is the wholesale lifting unusual in their adoption of policies and of someone else’s writing or the technology to help prevent plagiarism publication of a press release as news without attribution.” and fabrication. Most policies do not outline prevention or disciplinary measures, As these examples suggest, news- but they do frequently address plagia- room policies are often clear about rism, if not fabrication, in unmistakable why plagiarism is wrong and a serious terms. The Code of Ethics of the Society transgression. But they rarely outline of Professional Journalists, for instance, prevention programs or policies on uses just two words: “Never plagiarize.” sourcing and attribution. Nor do they

offer details about how a news orga- both to its staff and to its audience. nization will deal with an incident or Openness should also prevail when discipline an offender. an incident is discovered; it must be It’s also not clear how news orga- dealt with publicly and quickly. nizations educate journalists about l proper attribution and sourcing or It involves random checks. Edi- whether they have an established pro- tors should spot-check reporters’ cess for ensuring that newly hired sources randomly either before or staff members and contributors are after publication. The policy should aware of the organization’s standards specify when the checks are to take and policies. place, who is responsible for them These blind spots should be ad- and how they should be conducted. dressed because a precise policy that l It addresses attribution and linking. is clearly communicated and strictly The policy should make the case that enforced is the first step in preventing linking and other forms of attribu- plagiarism and fabrication. Here are tion are good journalism. Journalists the characteristics of a strong policy: must be recognized and rewarded for l There’s no room for confusion. A offering credit rather than for taking policy should make clear that pla- it from others or being stingy about giarism and fabrication are not citing sources. The best policies offer acceptable and will be dealt with specific guidelines. quickly, regardless of who brings l It’s clear about discipline. A policy an incident to the attention of the must be unequivocal in its condem- organization. nation of plagiarism and fabrica- l It’s widely available. A good pol- tion. It must also make clear that icy is a public policy. In making its while the severity of a plagiarism stance on plagiarism and fabrica- offense may be subject to interpre- tion clear, a news organization sends tation, fabrication always results in a strong message about its values dismissal.

l It treats everyone equally. A funda- media to link to social media pro- mental principle of a good policy is files, personal websites or other that discipline is applied equally to material that will confirm the iden- everyone, regardless of status. tity of sources. l Encourage editors to challenge and Other helpful practices check digital material that lacks a A clear policy is a start. In addition, documenting link. When an online we strongly recommend that news or- citation isn’t available, public re- ganizations examine the feasibility of cords databases and other sources adopting plagiarism-detection soft- should be consulted to provide sup- ware. Beyond that, they should take porting material. these steps:

l Require reporters to obtain and keep Changing the culture contact information on all sources Editors and reporters across all plat- and to supply such information for forms are under extreme pressure in a on-the-record sources during ran- grinding 24-hour news cycle. The com- dom or routine fact-checking. petition to match others’ reports is more l Encourage the video or audio re- intense than ever, and traditional meth- cording of on-the-record inter- ods of delivering the news and telling views and, where possible, the pho- stories have been upended. Many news tographing of sources. organizations are struggling to maintain quality and traditional ethical stan- l Require that reporters discuss un- dards while adapting to the new reality. named sources with at least one spec- That reality makes it easier than ified editor, providing names and ever to find and copy someone else’s other information that would help words and present them as your own. the editor confirm that the sources But the new order also makes it easier exist and assess their credibility. than ever to paste a section of pub- l Ask reporters working in digital lished material into Google and learn

whether it appeared elsewhere un- ture a lack of attribution or documen- der someone else’s byline or to check tation would shine a glaring light on names and other details to verify that plagiarism and fabrication. A diligent a source exists. adherence to these values will help re- Yet plagiarism and fabrication have store the trust of news consumers. not abated. Newsroom leaders should encour- Newsroom leaders must confront age conversations about journalism that fact. They must make checking for ethics within their staffs and with the authenticity and originality a standard community at large. They should con- procedure. They must initiate ongoing duct regular internal sessions to dis- discussions — clear, constant conver- cuss how the news was gathered and sations about standards, expectations delivered. Leaders must set the tone, and best practices — that will raise but less senior people should be tapped awareness of plagiarism and fabrica- to help facilitate sessions and share in- tion. Though the news cycle does not sight and questions. In these discus- allow much time for reflection on how sions, editors and reporters should be stories have been handled, newsroom encouraged to talk frankly about the leaders must find the time. This is im- ethical dilemmas they face, particular- portant work. ly those involving stories that are still Creating a culture that makes those being reported. Mistakes should be things routine is a daunting task, but used as the basis for further discussion. it can be done. It’s not just a matter of Newsroom training should empha- revising policies and technologies. A size transparency on every platform newsroom’s culture is defined by the and include digital story-telling tech- shared values and beliefs of its staff. niques that provide documentation, With this in mind, newsroom leaders context and attribution so complete must encourage a culture of transpar- that plagiarism and fabrication would ency in which sources are scrupulously be difficult if not impossible. credited and the audience is told where Offenses, major and minor, should information came from. In such a cul- be dealt with openly. If a story is clearly

not plagiarism but relies on weak or tion common to academic writing. vague attribution (“sources said,” for Footnotes would be a distraction to example, or “according to news re- non-academic readers and a layout ports”) newsroom leaders should deal nightmare to newspaper and maga- with the offenders and with the staff at zine editors. Distracting subtitles or large, underscoring standards and of- disclaimer-like endnotes would create fering retraining if it’s needed. mayhem in broadcasting. And linking All journalists, including stringers, fits more comfortably than footnoting community contributors and interns, into digital content. should be required to sign a statement But during much of the last decade, testifying that they have read and un- many journalists dismissed bloggers derstand the organization’s ethical (even as they became bloggers) and the policies and its standards relating to linking that was essential to blogging. attribution, plagiarism and fabrication. They saw linking as a courtesy, not an essential ethical practice. Besides, adding links took time, and journalists Transparency were busy. Moreover, news organiza- in a digital world tions didn’t want visitors leaving their Journalists should provide relevant sites, so many provided links only to links in digital stories so that readers their own content rather than to the and viewers can examine the sources sources they’d used in reporting. of the information they’re being given. This mindset ignored the data ev- Links are a digital form of attribution. ery news organization had proving that In newsrooms where they are routinely most visitors quickly left their sites any- provided in digital stories, the absence way. And it ignored the fact that a busi- of links is a red flag to editors on the ness getting billions of the advertising alert for plagiarism and fabrication. dollars that were fleeing traditional Journalism seeks a popular audi- media — Google — built its success on ence, whatever the platform, and so sending visitors away. As Google has does not require the detailed attribu- shown, people keep coming back to a

site that sends them to links they find bottom of the page. To return to the interesting. Relevant links also make text, touch or click on the page num- content more attractive to search en- ber to the left of the link. gines, which are significant contribu- Of course, print and broadcast re- tors to the traffic of most news sites. ports cannot carry links, but nearly ev- But all those business reasons for ery print or broadcast story has a digital transparency are overshadowed by the version. The print and broadcast ver- journalistic imperative. We must ex- sions should include sufficient attribu- pand on Jeff Jarvis’s principle that news tion for those platforms and the digital organizations should do what they do versions should have thorough links. best and link to the rest. Most journalists in traditional news- E-books present special linking rooms produce content for print or challenges because they tend to be read broadcast, which is then posted to the offline on tablets or e-readers. A user web. That system makes linking a chore who touches or clicks on a link in that and an afterthought. So changing the situation will be told that the sought- culture may require changing the work- after web page cannot be found. And flow as well as the attitudes and expec- when touch-screen devices are online, tations. In a perfect world, journalists links are often activated inadvertently would work initially on the digital ver- as users attempt to “turn” pages or sion of an article, then make the adjust- perform other functions. Multiple ments necessary for print or broadcast. links in a single e-book paragraph can Media organizations and vendors be especially annoying. should work toward that goal, demand- One solution to those problems is ing and developing tools that allow to gather all the links in one place, journalists to link easily as they work on as they are gathered here within the digital platforms. Newsrooms should “Sources” pages. Throughout the text, encourage the use of web-native tools words or passages in bold indicate such as Storify, Spundge and Publish2 links. To see the links, touch or click that make linking simple and seamless. on the SHOW SOURCES button at the The links required will vary, but at a

minimum they should point to all digital A common explanation for plagia- sources used in the research for the story rism is that the error was inadvertent, as well as social profiles or other digital that notes became confused. The culprit information about key people or organi- is often careless cutting and pasting. zations mentioned. Time will sometimes Cutting and pasting blocks of text limit the extent of linking. A breaking can ensure that a source is quoted ac- story might link only to the sources used curately, but it’s a practice that should in research, while an enterprise piece be used with great caution. Quoted ma- should provide more extensive links for terial should never be pasted into notes context, depth and verification. or stories without being designated While links are the foundation of a immediately as quotation. One helpful transparent culture in a digital world, technique is to add quotation marks, the attribution effort should not end the attribution and a link before past- with them. Journalists who quote tweets ing the text; it then survives as a quote or refer to YouTube videos should em- in notes or drafts. bed that material in their stories. Jour- Journalists writing in a content nalists basing stories on hard-copy doc- management system that has a block- uments that can’t be linked to should quote function can paste the quoted scan them and use a tool such as Scribd material in as a block quote after add- or DocumentCloud to embed them. ing the attribution and link. Another Where stories are based on data analy- technique is to highlight quoted mate- sis, journalists should make the data- rial (again, with attribution and link) in bases searchable and interactive. Even a distinctive color in notes and drafts. in articles that are primarily text, video Journalists can choose any device and audio clips will add credibility. In that works to guard against plagiarism. some cases, unedited audio or video But they should adopt an effective one files may be helpful, but editing might because plagiarism is a potentially be needed to remove off-the-record career-killing offense and sloppiness comments, factually incorrect state- does not excuse it. “I didn’t mean it” is ments or other inappropriate material. a guilty plea, not an alibi. u

3CHAPTER 2 SHOW SOURCES CHAPTER 44 Telling the Truth 31 4 Responding to Lapses

etecting plagiarism and er. When quotes are fabricated, Lewis fabrication begins with a noted in his research, those quoted or newsroom culture that values their family members sometimes come Dattribution, accuracy, transparency and forward. If they do, and if the publica- credibility. Communicating newsroom tion has a system in place to follow up practices and policies regularly is essen- on complaints, the fabricator is caught. tial to building that culture, in part be- Sometimes the victim himself de- cause it ensures that staff members and tects plagiarism. The Hartford Courant contributors not only know the rules but cartoonist Bob Englehart discovered a take personal responsibility for them. verbatim copy of his “When Does Life This may make them more likely to re- Begin?” cartoon in The Tulsa World in spond appropriately to readers, contrib- 2005, some 24 years after he’d created utors and viewers who report suspicions it, according to Lewis. The offending of plagiarism or fabrication. cartoonist, David Simpson, was even- Such reports can come from many tually dismissed. sources — a fellow reporter, a reader, One key line of defense against both listener or viewer, a journalism watch- plagiarism and fabrication lies, not sur- dog, a quoted source or even the offend- prisingly, with the copy editor, assigning

Editors should read all the quotations in a story, particularly a roundup or man-on-the-street piece, to see if each feels original, showing some aspect of the speaker’s personality.

editor or news director. What should Editors should weigh details of the set off alarm bells? The work might not story against their own logic and judg- resonate with the writer’s usual voice or ment. Had The Washington Post editors style. Or the reporter cannot provide at- who handled “Jimmy’s World” asked tribution or original documents. He or how an 8-year-old truant could be in she files an unusually complete report fourth grade, they could have stopped in less than the usual time, is vague Janet Cooke’s fabrication before it was about key sources or is distracted by published. Editors should view with joy unrelated life events — a chronically ill — tempered by a gimlet eye — the new parent, say, or a tumultuous divorce. contributor with a stunningly original Editors should read all the quota- piece of reporting or editorial insight. It is tions in a story, particularly a roundup worth asking how the contributor came or man-on-the-street piece, to see if by such brilliance. Often the “pitch” for each feels original, showing some as- the story will cover this, but it’s worth a pect of the speaker’s personality. A conversation or even an online search. uniform voice in all the quotes should But the “Jimmy’s World” kind of fab- be suspicious. Had editors at The New rication is extraordinary. Most made-up York Times used this standard in exam- material comes from serial fabricators ining the quotations from four wound- who operate undetected for years or deed Iraq War veterans, Jayson Blair may cades. So the most reliable way to detect have been unmasked a month and sev- fabrication is to test systematically for eral fabrications earlier. the authenticity of sources.

Online tools can help in that pro- the writing style of your report- cess, whether the offense is plagiarism ers. If anything seems like it’s not or fabrication. We admired The Seattle written in a particular reporter’s Times Plagiarism/Attribution Guide- “voice,” ask extra questions about lines, developed in 2004 in light of a where the information came from. plagiarism case a year after the Blair l If something seems amiss, you can fiasco. They say in part: run 8- to 12-word phrases from l Practice what some papers call the story through LexisNexis to “skeptical” editing: Ask lots of make sure they haven’t been used questions. Know where the reporter elsewhere. (Think of this as a way got the information. Don’t hesitate to guarantee that your reporter’s to ask to see documents, and make words are fresh and unique!) sure references to them are para- In addition to LexisNexis, copy edi- phrased and attributed correctly. tors, assigning editors and news direc- l Keep tabs on reporters’ workloads. tors can run that copy through search Find a way to ease the load if neces- engines or choose from a list of web- sary. sites compiled by Northwest Missouri State University on its page called l Watch for unattributed informa- Guide to Diagnosing Plagiarism. Two tion in stories that would require free detection sites include a link to an a degree of expertise the reporter open source, Windows-based program doesn’t have. called WCopyfind. WCopyfind’s site l Educate new reporters and interns says it compares documents and re- on what plagiarism is. ports similarities in their words and phrases. l Be a reader first, and ask yourself Northwest Missouri State lists 14 what sourcing information would websites other than Google where an be helpful to readers. editor can type in phrases and look l Work to understand and recognize for copies. LexisNexis has a product

called Accurint that says it’s a “direct Error, Craig Silverman’s column on connection to over 34 billion cur- tracking accuracy, errors and the craft rent public records” that can be used of verification at the Poynter Insti- to detect fraud, verify identities and tute; Jim Romenesko, who covers the conduct investigations. When a Cape media on his blog; and iMediaEthics Cod Times reporter made up a fam- (formerly known as stinkyjournalism. ily for a story, The New York Times org), which is run by a University of reported that her editors used Ac- Iowa journalism and mass communi- curint to determine that the family cations professor whose website says, did not exist. In the end, a full review “We’ll call out the media for getting it revealed that the reporter, Karen Jef- wrong, but we also want to highlight frey, had made up 69 people in 34 ar- when the media gets it right.” Austra- ticles since 1998. lia has a television show called “Media Commercial sites used by academia Watch,” which includes plagiarism in include Turnitin, Copyscape, PlagScan, its list of coverage topics it has used Plagium and PlagiarismDetect. They to expose “media shenanigans” since work in similar ways. Turnitin adver- 1989. tises that it provides originality reports American Journalism Review and “by checking submitted papers against Columbia Journalism Review also cri- 24+ billion web pages, 250+ million tique large papers. Alternative week- student papers and leading library data- lies and city magazines in major cities bases and publications.” sometimes find plagiarism in the city’s And in recent years, a cottage indus- larger paper. And there is the simple try of journalism watchdogs has been fact that readers and viewers, consum- bent on checking for plagiarism, espe- ing a variety of news sources and social cially in large newspapers. Among the media sites, may notice the same sto- online watchdogs: the Media Research ries with the same interview subjects, Center website, which says it aims to then complain about it. document, expose and neutralize what Finally, there are whistleblowers. it sees as liberal media bias; Regret the Anna Tarkov, writing on Poynter, re-

ports that it took an honest employee is an extension for Adobe Photoshop trained in journalistic standards and called FourMatch, produced by a com- ethics to blow the whistle on Journat- pany named Fourandsix. The website ic, an “outsourcing” site that was ac- says it “instantly analyzes any open cused of putting fake bylines on hun- JPEG image to determine whether it is dreds of stories written by low-paid an untouched original from a digital Philippine employees. The whistle- camera.” FourMatch was created by Dr. blower, Ryan Smith, called The Chi- Hany Farid, a Dartmouth College com- cago Reader, which published a story puter science professor and a digital about the practice. Then he contacted image forensics expert, who discussed PRI’s “This American Life.” Smith its uses as well as the problem of digital said on the program that he was ed- doctoring with Columbia Journalism iting writers in the Philippines who Review. were told to choose fake bylines from a Craig Silverman of Poynter, quoting click-down box. They were paid 35 or Farid’s Fourandsix colleague Kevin 40 cents a story. Poynter’s Julie Moos Connor, listed other steps that can help reported that one of its editorial lead- disclose visual manipulation: ers resigned in July 2012 because of l Check the file and metadata using ethical disagreements over how to run what’s called an EXIF viewer or a the company. Firefox add-on designed for that Plagiarism and fabrication are not purpose. The data can reveal the limited to the written word. But in au- type of camera that took the photo dio or video it can be difficult to de- and even the software last used to termine whether a reporter has staged save the image. a scene, though it may feel contrived, sometimes because the source is an l Check for telltale tool marks, copy- obvious if not very able actor. Though cat pixels and halos left by the Pho- digital manipulation isn’t always so toshop clone tool and for distorted easy to spot, there are ways to detect it. shadows, reflections and perspec- One of the newest products available tive lines; hoaxsters make mistakes.

Find the original source of a video or image, if possible. Judge the reliability of the potential contributors as one would any other source or contributor.

Theresa Collington of Gannett, in content often spreads across social me- a presentation titled “Detecting Faux- dia in ‘Chinese whispers’ fashion. Vid- tography,” suggests also checking the eos and images are spliced, diced and urban legend tracker Snopes.com, re-posted. Context and details change, Googling the photo with “hoax,” look- agendas compete. Falsehoods and fabri- ing for feathering, changes in light and cations are deliberately issued.” soft focus and going with your gut. The Publications that seek to use content only places on the web where photos are from social media should verify it first, certainly safe to use are www.creative- Browne wrote. Had editors from ABC, commons.com and the Creative Com- NBC, Time and Fox followed his ad- mons section of Flickr. (For photogra- vice, they might not have published the phers who want to keep their work safe viral YouTube video of a pig appearing from online theft, John D. McHugh, a to rescue a baby goat from a pond. photojournalist, designed Marksta, an Find the original source of a video app that watermarks photos.) or image, if possible. Judge the reli- At Storyful, which bills itself as a ability of the potential contributors as social media newswire, the news edi- one would any other source or con- tor, Malachy Browne, has written on tributor. Do they live where the source the site’s blog about the company’s pro- of the material comes from? Do they cesses for validating social media posts: tweet and post to Facebook regularly “Verification is a cornerstone of our from this place? Use other sources work, and it has to be. Information and such as whitepages.com to find out if

the contributors are listed. Call them. the material in question is copyrighted. It’s just good journalistic practice. “So- Ultimately, detection must be part cial media is simply a new source for of the newsroom’s larger work ethic, information that must be verified like not an end unto itself. We are mindful any other,” Browne wrote. He has ad- of what Tom Rosenstiel cautioned in ditional techniques to verify that a the aftermath of the Jayson Blair scan- photo or video is authentic, including dal. Rosenstiel, then the director of the geo-locators and satellite maps, but Project for Excellence in Journalism, also some commonplace and practical questioned how much a newspaper can methods: Compare weather conditions guard against willful fraud by deceitful in a photo or video with weather re- reporters. “It’s difficult to catch some- ports from the day it was made. Check one who is deliberately trying to deceive license plates to determine if they are you,” he said in an interview with The from the right country and state. Look New York Times. “There are risks if you for anything that seems out of place or create a system that is so suspicious of suspicious. reporters in a newsroom that it can in- There are several instances of writ- terfere with the relationship of creativi- ers using Twitter to disclose plagia- ty that you need in a newsroom — of the rized work. In a 2012 case, according to trust between reporters and editors.” Mary C. Long, writing in Mediabistro. com, Josh Linker, an author, plagiarized the first couple of paragraphs of Creating a protocol an article from an earlier blog by Chris We urge every publication and website Dixon. Long’s story has screen grabs to develop a protocol for responding to of Dixon’s tweeting that Linker pla- reports of plagiarism or fabrication. In giarized his work and of Linker apolo- addition to dealing with the accused, gizing for it. But Twitter itself is not a an organization must be accountable to reliable guard against plagiarism. Ac- its audience, to its staff and contribu- cording to its help center page, the ser- tors and to its own standards and those vice will not step into a dispute unless of the profession.

The protocol should include a clear roadmap for taking action once plagiarism or fabrication is detected.

A protocol must start with basics: As as they occur, both as object lessons noted earlier, ethics codes should make and as reinforcement for the principles it clear that plagiarism and fabrication of originality and attribution. We also are potential firing offenses. A primer recommend that staff members be re- on ethics should be given to new em- quired to review the ethics code annu- ployees the day they start work and to ally. Some organizations ask them to new contributors once their work is ac- sign a copy of the code each year, indi- cepted for publication. cating that they understand it. The protocol should include a clear roadmap for taking action once plagiarism or fabrication is detected. Whom Receiving the complaint should the copy editor call when she A senior staff member should be des- spots a problem? Do outside contribu- ignated as the standards editor, with tors have a point person within the responsibility for investigating any pla- organization? Who is responsible for giarism or fabrication charge. The as- monitoring reader feedback, since signment should be publicized and the some plagiarism and fabrication is public should be able to reach the stan- noted on comments or social media? dards editor easily. That editor should Is there an identifiable person respon- consider allegations of plagiarism or sible for handling complaints of plagia- fabrication from anyone — other staff rism or fabrication? members, audience members, online Editors, managers and staff mem- forums, other publications or even the bers should share case studies of pla- authors of plagiarized work. giarism and fabrication at other outlets When a complaint is received, the

standards editor should contact the su- l Did you report this information pervisor of the department or unit that yourself? produced the suspect work. Both the l Did you talk to the people quoted standards editor and the supervisor in the article? Can we see your should review the work and, in plagia- notes and phone logs? Can you give rism cases, compare it to the original, us the addresses and phone num- looking for similarities and circumstanc- bers of these people? es. This review should be both timely and thorough, aimed at determining as l If you did not speak with them, quickly as possible whether this is an iso- how did you get the information? lated incident or part of a pattern. l Did you see (the original work) be- Early on, the top newsroom execu- fore or during your reporting? tive should be alerted that a review is under way. The legal staff may also l Did you get background informa- be consulted if there is a potential for tion from X publication? How did suspension or dismissal or if copyright you use this material? and liability issues come into play. l These passages in your story ap- pear to be similar to or the same Interviewing the suspect as those in X publication. Can you explain how this happened? Once plagiarism has been detected or fabrication surmised, two people (prob- l Did you travel for this story? Did ably one of them the standards editor) you keep your travel receipts? should conduct the interview — in per- l Have you used these methods be- son if it is a staff member or by phone if fore? the author is an outside contributor. We believe it is useful for news organizations It should be made clear during the to develop a script so that all the relevant interview that as the investigation un- questions are asked in one conversation. folds the suspect’s work will not be Here are some potential questions: used, that previously published work

If plagiarism has been committed, the standards editor should notify the creator of the material about the transgression and explain the steps being taken to rectify the problem.

may be examined and that the results story has been revised. If the plagia- of the investigation will be made pub- rism or fabrication is total, the organi- lic. The range of possible consequenc- zation may not have a legal right to the es should also be explained. content. In that case, the story should At the conclusion of the interview, be taken down and replaced — at the the editors who conducted it should same URL — with an explanation to review their notes and advise the top readers. newsroom executive of their findings. If plagiarism has been committed, the standards editor should notify Assessing severity the creator of the material about the Across the industry, there seems to be transgression and explain the steps an understanding that, while fabrica- being taken to rectify the problem. If tion leads inevitably to dismissal, not the faulty work was by a freelancer, all plagiarism is created equal. There’s the contributor’s contract should be the rookie journalist who regurgi- reviewed and, perhaps, canceled. tates a news release without proper Content on digital platforms must credit. There’s the columnist whose be reviewed and corrected. In some work bears an uncanny resemblance to cases, the practice is to place the cor- someone else’s. And there’s the Jayson rection at the top of an archived or Blair understudy who habitually lifts digital story, making it clear that a long passages from others and fabri- portion has been discredited and the cates what he’s missing.

Although some strident voices l Extent: Was this a lifted sentence clamor for a zero-tolerance policy on or an entire stolen article with only plagiarism — termination at first blush a changed byline? — that is not the norm. So the first step l Frequency: Was this an isolated in crafting a policy about consequenc- incident or habitual theft? es or deciding how to respond to an individual act of plagiarism should be l History: Are there other ethical to choose between zero tolerance and a problems in this journalist’s past? graduated scale of punishment. And given the industry’s increas- Though a graduated scale is the ing use of freelance contributors, me- norm, one must glean that from pub- dia outlets may also want to consider lished accounts about infractions, whether to establish a separate gradu- rather than from organizations’ poli- ated or zero-tolerance policy for them. cies. The New York Times policy, for example, defines plagiarism and says simply, “We will not tolerate such behavior.” There’s no mention of pun- Deciding on punishment ishment. Policies that spell out conse- The consequences of plagiarism are quences do so vaguely, as in The Dallas as varied as the infractions, ranging Morning News’ policy, which says pla- from a verbal warning to dismissal. giarism “would lead to disciplinary ac- They may be subject to a hodgepodge tion up to and including termination.” of local, state and federal employment The Baltimore Sun’s guidelines say, “It laws as well as union rules particular to is a ground for dismissal.” But none of individual shops. Given the individu- the policies require termination. Em- alized nature of each act of plagiarism ployer discretion is the norm. and increased staffing demands, it’s Organizations that choose a gradu- not surprising that no consensus on ated scale of punishment should con- punishment has emerged. sider who will make the judgment us- Each organization is left to deal with ing these factors: the matter, which makes it all the more

important for each to develop its own education, extolled the merits of reha- guidelines. The available sanctions in- bilitation over excommunication, “a clude oral or written reprimands, paid kind of closely monitored work-release or unpaid suspensions, the loss of by- program for nonviolent offenders.” His lines, reassignments and forced resig- hypothesis is that plagiarists have nev- nations or dismissals. We believe that er absorbed the essence of journalism, every organization should recognize and teaching and mentoring may be plagiarism as a possible cause for ter- just what they and the industry need. mination and should make clear that fabrication always leads to dismissal. In plagiarism cases there may be Explaining the situation extenuating circumstances, but the Communicating with the rest of the punishment must be appropriate for staff after a plagiarism incident is im- a serious ethical breach: Slaps on the portant and may require a graduated wrist do not deter further offenses or approach. For example, different levels enhance the credibility of the organi- of detail may be given to managers or zation or the industry. supervisors, to plagiarism-alert copy If there is more than one instance of editors, assigning editors and news di- deception by a staff member, company rectors and to the staff at large. policy may require a review by the hu- Discussing a case with the staff may man resources and legal departments be easier when an employee is termi- because the investigation could lead to nated than when a different punish- dismissal. It may even be necessary to ment is chosen. The organization’s hu- hire outside investigators or research- man resources policies will be a guide ers, particularly if the victim of plagia- on how much can be communicated. rism is a foreign publication. But newsroom managers should always And there is an alternate theory be on the lookout for opportunities to worth mentioning. In an article for remind the staff of the company’s at- Poynter, Scott Leadingham, the Society tribution and ethics guidelines. of Professional Journalists’ director of If an offense is discovered before pub-

lication and the culprit is a staff member In the Poynter article “How to who will be suspended or dismissed, the handle plagiarism and fabrication al- incident may be made public. But if the legations,” Craig Silverman and Kelly offender is an outside contributor, the McBride offered a helpful step-by- managers face a dilemma. The contrib- step guide to dealing with the public. utor may be barred from further work Among their suggestions: Assign a sin- for the organization but continue work- gle spokesperson to answer questions ing elsewhere. We were unable to decide about the case and offer an explanation whether an editor who discovers pla- and apology in every medium in which giarism or fabrication should share this the offender’s work appeared. information with other publications. Extremely serious cases may require Privacy concerns, due process and other more than a note to readers, listeners legal considerations will make any orga- or viewers. The New York Times devot- nization cautious about labeling some- ed four full pages to its account of Jay- one a thief when the material has not yet son Blair’s fabrications and plagiarism been published. in three dozen articles. In a broadcast The publicity decision is easier if the setting, a news director or general offense is discovered after publication manager could record an acknowledg- or broadcast. The editors would typi- ment that would run during the news cally write a correction, clarification program that used improper material or editor’s note, describing the prob- and post an announcement on the or- lem, the investigation and its findings ganization’s website. and apologizing for the error. In a seri- When the investigation is com- ous case, they might distribute a staff plete, the culprit has been punished memo. Circumstances would deter- and the apologies have been made, mine whether to name the offender. A newsroom managers should review culprit who is a contributor unfamiliar their policies and training proce- with the professional standards might dures, asking themselves whether not be named, though a staff member they can do more to prevent plagia- or professional probably would. rism and fabrication. u

3CHAPTER 3 SHOW SOURCES CHAPTER 54 Telling the Truth 44 5 Preparing for Tomorrow heft ef or to stamp out pla- plaining the evils of plagiarism. And giarism and fabrication cannot as the Internet makes offenses easier be confined to the industry. It to detect, they have struggled with Tmust be coordinated with news liter- how to handle plagiarism in their pro- acy programs not only in colleges but grams and in the university at large. also in secondary schools. Students at Some journalism schools have de- all levels need to understand the im- veloped their own plagiarism defini- portance of accurate, factual informa- tions as part of their guidelines on aca- tion, the value of sourcing and attri- demic integrity and journalism ethics. bution and how news is gathered and The Academic Integrity Handbook disseminated. of the School of Journalism at the In a 2011 study, the International University of Arizona, for example, Center for Academic Integrity found suggests that students attribute all of that 80 percent of college students these items: a paraphrase of another surveyed said they had cheated at least person’s spoken or written words; once. In a cut-and-paste environment another person’s ideas, opinions or where Wikipedia and the concept of theories; the source of any facts the sharing are pervasive, journalism edu- reporter did not personally witness; cators often face an uphill battle in ex- the source of any statistics, graphs or

drawings; and accusatory, opinion- in more traditional broadcast ated, unsubstantiated or controversial media. Because plagiarism information, especially in crime or ac- can significantly undermine the public trust of journalists cident stories. The university also has and journalism, editors should strict rules against self-plagiarism. be prepared to consider severe But there is no universally accepted penalties for documented cases of definition. The closest thing to it is plagiarism, including dismissal in the Associated Collegiate Press’s from the staff.” Model Code for Student Journalists, Regarding fabrication, the model which says: code states: “Plagiarism is prohibited and is “The use of composite charac- illegal if the material is copyright ters or imaginary situations or protected. For the purposes of characters will not be allowed this code, plagiarism is defined in news or feature stories. A as the word-for-word duplica- columnist may, occasionally, use tion of another person’s writing such an approach in develop- or close summarization of the ing a piece, but it must be clear work of another source without to the reader that the person or giving the source proper credit. A situation is fictional and that the comparable prohibition applies column is commentary and not to the use of graphics. Informa- reporting. The growth of narra- tion obtained from a published tive story development (storytell- work must be independently ing devices) means that reporters verified before it can be reported and editors should be especially as a new, original story. This careful to not mix fact and fic- policy also forbids lifting ver- tion, and not embellish fact with batim paragraphs from a wire fictional details, regardless of service without attribution or their significance.” pointing out that wire stories Not all college or university publi- were used in compiling the story. Material that is published on the cations are members of the Associated Internet should be treated in the Collegiate Press, however, so many same way as if it were published of them may not subscribe to or even

We believe that a failure to attribute material properly in a first, beginning journalism class is a “teachable moment,” not a professional felony.

know about the model code. The lead- Arizona State University. The policy ers of journalism education should says: therefore come together to create an “Any allegations of academic omnibus code that specifically out- dishonesty will automatically be lines students’ ethical responsibilities referred to the Standards Com- and clearly explains and prohibits pla- mittee of the school for review giarism and fabrication. and recommendation to the dean With the code as a guideline, jour- of the school. If any student is nalism educators can then find con- found by the committee to have engaged in academic dishonesty sensus on how to deal with plagiarists in any form — including but not and fabricators using such sanctions limited to cheating, plagiarizing as a reduced grade on the assignment, and fabricating — that student failing the assignment, failing the shall receive a grade of XE for class, suspension and expulsion from the class and will be dismissed the school. from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Com- We fully understand that finding munication. There will be no the consensus we seek is no easy task exceptions.” because journalism programs operate within universities that vary widely in We believe, though, that a fail- their treatment of plagiarism. ure to attribute material properly in a We recommend that other schools first, beginning journalism class is a consider the one-strike policy in place “teachable moment,” not a professional at the Walter Cronkite School of Jour- felony, and that journalism educators nalism and Mass Communication at should teach — perhaps in a required

course — both the evils of plagiarism Nonetheless, by the time an un- and fabrication and the importance of dergraduate student is accepted into proper attribution. the journalism major, zero tolerance Mary Kay Quinlan, associate pro- should apply. Zero tolerance at the fessor at the University of Nebraska- university level is a powerful way to Lincoln, told this committee: help change the professional culture. This process of dealing with plagia- “I think the proliferation of ‘stories’ that simply amount to rism and fabrication may be compli- regurgitating information com- cated by university policies stipulating piled from other sources, espe- that sanctions for integrity violations are cially from social media, make it handled outside individual departments. difficult for people to understand In such situations, it can be difficult for exactly what plagiarism is. a faculty member to learn whether a stu- “Also, the tendency to think dent has been punished previously for that anything one finds online plagiarism. A dean responsible for integ- is free for the taking makes it rity matters may resist applying more se- increasingly difficult to convey a sense that there is such a thing as rious sanctions to a journalism student intellectual property rights.” than to one in another major. Here, we recommend that journalism deans and The problem is made more complex chairs educate their colleagues about with the proliferation of international the need for heightened integrity stan- graduate students who represent dif- dards on plagiarism and fabrication for ferent cultures. Professor Jan Leach of journalism students. No serial plagiarist Kent State University explained: should remain a journalism student in good standing. “We have many grad students from China, and they simply There are two contexts in which stu- have never encountered the dent plagiarism or fabrication may oc- concept. It is not in their edu- cur. If the offense happens on an inde- cational background or cultural pendent student publication, it should experience.” be reported immediately to the editor

in chief and promptly investigated by them. The Family Educational Rights the editor in chief or a high-ranking and Privacy Act prohibits the public supervisory editor or panel of editors. disclosure of academic records without The accused student should be prohib- the student’s permission. In 2008, a Tex- ited from writing for the publication as A&M International University com- until the issue is resolved. If plagiarism puter-science teacher was dismissed for is detected, the publication should take violating the act in an attempt to thwart the same steps suggested for profes- plagiarism, according to the online ed- sional publications. ucation site Inside Higher Ed. His offense was posting on his class blog the names of six students he had caught pla- Every informed person, giarizing, saying their grade would be F. young or old, should Even before they reach college and be conditioned to ask: even if they will never attend journalism “Says who?” school, young people need to be con- scious of news literacy and the dangers of plagiarism and fabrication. Journalists If the publication is produced in a should seek ways — perhaps in regular laboratory setting — that is, as part of classroom visits — to help high school a journalism class — the editors would and middle school students understand be involved, but the adviser of the or- how news is gathered and delivered. ganization or the faculty member who We believe that students learning teaches the class may take the lead. If to teach English in middle schools and plagiarism is found, the offending stu- high schools should be required to take dent should be dealt with promptly. at least one journalism class that ex- In a classroom setting, student pri- plains the dangers of plagiarism and vacy must be considered. Information fabrication. about sanctions may not be disclosed In the end, every informed person, outside the core group of department young or old, should be conditioned to members who need to know about ask: “Says who?” u

3CHAPTER 4 SHOW SOURCES CHAPTER 64 Telling the Truth 49 6 Participants S teve Buttry is di- conferences and seminars on journal- rector of community ism and the news business. engagement and social media for Digital First Maria Cianci has Media and Journal Reg- been a writer and editor ister Co. Before joining JRC and DFM, on the web since 2000. he was director of community en- Before that, she wrote gagement for TBD.com. From 2008 to about food and restau- 2010, he was at Gazette Communica- rants at newspapers and magazines. tions in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as edi- She is a managing editor at Yahoo! and tor of The Gazette and GazetteOnline was part of the core team of editors in and C3 innovation coach. Buttry was the development of “The Yahoo! Style named Editor of the Year in 2010 by Guide: The ultimate sourcebook for Editor & Publisher. He has been an writing, editing, and creating content editor, reporter, writing coach, blog- for the digital world.” ger and innovation coach for seven community and metro newspapers. William Connolly Buttry has been an adjunct faculty retired in 2001 as a se- member at Georgetown and American nior editor of The New universities, was a contributor to the York Times, where his American Press Institute’s Newspaper most recent assignments Next project and a frequent speaker at involved recruiting, training and the

development of a comprehensive policy Mike Farrell is an on ethics and conflicts of interest. He associate professor in the is a co-author of “The New York Times School of Journalism and Manual of Style and Usage, Revised and Telecommunications at Expanded Edition” (Crown Publish- the University of Ken- ers, 1999) and from 1987 through 1989 tucky, where he teaches reporting, me- wrote “Winners & Sinners,” a periodi- dia law, journalism ethics and journal- cal critique of the paper that circulated ism history. He serves as the director of widely among journalists, writers and the Scripps Howard First Amendment educators. He lectured frequently at the Center. He is a member of the Society American Press Institute and taught of Professional Journalists, serving on from 1981 through 2001 at the May- the Ethics Committee and the Free- nard Institute’s editing program, first dom of Information Committee. For at the University of Arizona, then at the almost 20 years, he worked as a report- University of California at Berkeley. He er, city editor and managing editor at has also conducted workshops on edit- The Kentucky Post. He is the co-author ing for newspapers and for journalism of “Newspapers: A Complete Guide to schools and associations throughout the Industry.” He earned his doctorate the country. Before joining The Times, in communication at the University of he served as a reporter or editor at The Kentucky. Minneapolis Tribune, The Houston Chronicle and The Detroit Free Press. RogeR Fidler is the From 1979 to 1983 he was managing program director for editor of The Virginian-Pilot, the morn- digital publishing and ing newspaper in Norfolk. He has been director of the Digital a member of the American Copy Edi- Publishing Alliance at the tors Society since its inception, serving Missouri School of Journalism’s Reyn- on its executive committee for 15 years, olds Journalism Institute. Prior to join- and is a past president of the ACES Ed- ing the RJI in 2004 as its first fellow, he ucation Fund. was a professor of journalism and in-

formation design at Kent State Univer- ing since then to incorporate multime- sity. He worked in the newspaper busi- dia across the curriculum. Since arriv- ness for 34 years in a variety of roles. ing at UMass, he has developed several Since 1979, when he was invited to join courses modeled after his multimedia Knight-Ridder’s pioneering videotex journalism class that allow students to development team, he has been on the work in teams in a newsroom-like en- leading edge of new media develop- vironment where they develop pack- ments. He is best known for his early ages — using social media, video, audio vision of tablets, which Apple finally and photos to tell stories. He also devel- made real in the form of the iPad. oped the program’s Sports Journalism Concentration. He has been a journal- Pam Fine is the Knight ist for more than 25 years and has been Chair for News, Leader- involved with web journalism since the ship and Community and mid-1990s. He joined The Washington a professor of journalism Post’s website in 1996, just months after at the University of Kan- the site went live. He edited one of the sas. She is treasurer of the American first news blogs on the web and was in- Society of News Editors (ASNE) and volved in planning and editing multiple will be president of the organization in multimedia projects at The Post. 2015. She is a former managing editor of the Indianapolis Star and the Star Henry Fuhrmann Tribune in Minneapolis and assistant is an assistant managing managing editor at the Atlanta Jour- editor at The Los Angeles nal-Constitution. Times, where he oversees the copy desks and leads Steve Fox joined the the editorial standards and practices journalism faculty at the committee. Since 1990 he has served University of Massachu- all over the newsroom, working as an setts at Amherst in August editor on the Metro, Foreign, Calendar, 2007 and has been work- Business and web desks. He studied en-

gineering at Caltech and UCLA before and diversity of coverage and regularly entering the news business. Fuhrmann meets with community leaders and holds two degrees in journalism: a bach- groups to discuss coverage. Also, Holt elor’s degree from Cal State Los Angeles has a background in training and staff and a master’s degree from Columbia development; she is a past chair of the University. He is active in the Ameri- Mid-America Press Institute and rep- can Copy Editors Society and the Asian resents the Tribune on its board. Ad- American Journalists Association. ditionally, she works with colleagues at other Tribune Co. newsrooms on edito- Bob Heisse is executive rial ethics codes and practices. editor of The State Jour- nal-Register in Spring- Jan Leach is an as- field, Ill., and regional sociate professor in the editor for GateHouse Me- School of Journalism and dia in Illinois. He is the immediate past Mass Communication president of the Associated Press Media at Kent State University. Editors and is current president of the She teaches media ethics, newswrit- APME Foundation. Heisse joined the ing, copy editing and more. She is SJ-R in March 2012 after 10 years as ex- director of Kent’s Media Law Center ecutive editor of the Centre Daily Times for Ethics and Access and is an ethics in State College, Pa. fellow at the Poynter Institute. Leach is coordinator, host and facilitator for Margaret Holt is the annual Poynter KSU Media Ethics standards editor at the Workshop. Before joining the faculty at Chicago Tribune, working KSU, Leach was editor and vice presi- with reporters and editors dent of The Akron Beacon Journal for on issues of accuracy, fair- five years. She came to Akron from ness and ethics. A member of the Native The Cincinnati Enquirer, where she had American Journalists Association, she been managing editor. She also was has a particular interest in urban issues managing editor at The Phoenix Ga-

zette and city editor at The Arizona Re- Nancy A. Sharkey public, and held various reporting and is a professor of practice editing positions at newspapers in Cin- in the School of Journal- cinnati, Findlay and Fostoria, Ohio. ism at the University of Arizona. She spent more Norman P. Lewis is than 25 years in various editorial posi- an assistant professor of tions at The New York Times, and now journalism at the Univer- teaches courses on reporting, editing sity of Florida. He joined and reporting public affairs. Sharkey the university in 2007 af- also taught for more than 20 years ter earning his doctorate in journalism as an adjunct professor in Columbia from the University of Maryland. Be- University’s Graduate School of Jour- fore that, he worked as a journalist for nalism, from which she earned her 25 years in jobs ranging from reporter master’s degree. She is a member of to publisher and in locales ranging the Association for Education in Jour- from small dailies to The Washington nalism and Mass Communication, Post. His academic research focuses on the National Association of Hispanic ethics and plagiarism. Journalists and the Native American Journalists Association. Teresa Schmedding is the deputy managing Travis Siebrass is editor/digital operations the assistant news edi- of the Daily Herald Me- tor/digital at The Daily dia Group in suburban Herald in suburban Chi- Chicago. She also is the president of cago. A 2004 graduate of the American Copy Editors Society. the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Schmedding has a bachelor’s degree Siebrass has worked at The Daily Her- in journalism and a master’s degree in ald for the last eight years as a copy media management from the Univer- editor, designer and night desk man- sity of Missouri-Columbia. ager.

C raig Silverman, an ing processes of the newsroom. Before adjunct faculty member at assuming these duties, he worked for the Poynter Institute, is an seven years supervising a team of se- award-winning journalist nior reporters that developed investi- and the founder/editor of gative projects, cultural issues stories, Regret the Error, a blog that reports on coverage of major breaking news and media errors and corrections and trends enterprise stories on virtually all top- regarding accuracy and verification. He ics. And prior to that, he produced writes a weekly column for The Toronto and supervised programs promoting Star and has been a columnist for Co- an atmosphere of learning at all lev- lumbia Journalism Review, The Globe els in The Daily Herald’s 290-person and Mail and BusinessJournalism.org. newsroom. He has led workshops on He’s the former managing editor of PBS journalism and newsroom leadership MediaShift, and was part of the team for various regional and national orga- that launched OpenFile.ca, a Canadian nizations, including the Inland Press online news start-up. Association and the American Copy Editors Society. He joined The Daily Jim Slusher is assis- Herald in 1989 as news editor. In 1992, tant managing editor for he became associate editor, expanding opinion. He oversees the his oversight of production issues and development of the edito- increasing his role in newsroom opera- rial page and helps define tions. He assumed his present position the editorial voice at The Daily Herald, in 2010. A 1974 graduate of Western a 130,000-circulation daily newspaper Illinois University, Slusher also taught serving the west and northwest suburbs high school for two years in the mid- of Chicago. Slusher works closely with ’70s, served as news director of a small other newsroom managers to establish Iowa radio station and has worked in and monitor policies of the news op- all newsroom capacities at newspapers eration, and he writes a weekly column in northwestern Illinois, Michigan to give insights into the decision-mak- and California.

Dayl n Smith is the typesetter, and his parents published an editor and publisher of alternative newspaper in the 1960s. TucsonSentinel.com, a nonprofit local indepen- Patrick Smith is dent online news organi- an online editor at The zation. He is the chairman of the board Omaha World-Herald in of the Local Independent Online News Nebraska. He previously Publishers (LION), which represents the worked as an online editor publishers of more than 100 local news at The Lincoln Journal Star and a copy sites across the country. An experienced editor at the Stelter Co. and The Des designer and programmer, he serves as Moines Register. He has been an ACES an invited expert on the World Wide web member for nearly a decade and gradu- Consortium’s HTML Working Group, ated from the University of Nebraska- helping to write the latest specifications Lincoln. for the language that runs the Internet. Prior to founding the Sentinel, he was Nicole Stockdale the online editor for The Tucson Citizen is the assistant editorial until the newspaper was shut down. He page editor for The Dallas was the executive director of The Quint- Morning News and edi- essential Stage, a nonprofit theater com- tor of the Sunday opinion pany, and editor and publisher of ¿K? section, Points. She joined the editorial Magazine, an arts and culture monthly, board in 2006 after seven years as a in the 1990s. He comes from a long line news copy editor at The Morning News of journalists; his great-grandfather be- and The Wichita Eagle. gan work as a reporter fresh from high school in 1900. His family operated The David Swartzlander Wheaton (Ill.) Daily Journal for more is an assistant professor of than 50 years. His grandfather was an journalism and the Jour- editor as well as a journalism professor, nalism Department chair- his grandmother was a copyeditor and man at Doane College in

Nebraska. He also is the president of NA Board of Directors. She also served the College Media Association. Swartz- on the Editorial Integrity for Public lander has 14 years of experience as a Media Project helping to write the sec- professor at Doane, teaching journal- tion on employees’ activities beyond ism and advising the student newspa- their public media work. per, yearbook and news website. He has 23 years of experience as a reporter for Fara Warner is edi- five dailies in four states, Ohio, Florida, torial director, business, New York and Nebraska. He earned his technology and enter- master’s degree in journalism from the tainment group, at AOL, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. where she oversees the editorial content and direction of Amy Tardif is sta- brands. She was the past editorial di- tion manager and news rector of Newsweek Daily Beast and has director at WGCU FM taught journalism at the University of in Southwest Florida. She Michigan and Michigan State Univer- oversees a staff of six in sity. Warner is the author of “The Pow- news, production and the radio reader of the Purse. How Smart Companies ing service. Her program “Lucia’s Let- Are Adapting to the World’s Most Im- ter,” on human trafficking, received a portant Consumers — Women” and a Peabody Award, an Edward R. Mur- freelance journalist. She has 15 years of row Award, a gold medal from the New experience writing for The Wall Street York Festivals and first place for Best Journal, Fast Company, Brandweek and Documentary from the Public Radio the Associated Press. News Directors Inc. She was the pro- ducer and host of “Gulf Coast Live Arts Mark Willis serves as Edition” for eight years and spent 14 a journalist with Sirius- years as WGCU’s local host of NPR’s XM Satellite Radio. Wil- “Morning Edition.” She serves as the lis, who has more than 30 Region 13 representative on the RTD- years of experience in the

news media, has interviewed presidents, association’s Executive Committee; has sports celebrities and maybe even your served as the chair of the ethics commit- neighbor. He has worked as an anchor tee and as a member of the convention at KRLD in Dallas and the Texas State planning and education committees. He Network. He was also news director is also a member of the board of gover- for the ABC Radio Networks in Dallas. nors of the Mid-America chapter of the Willis currently serves as the Region 6 National Academy of Television Arts Coordinator for the Radio and Televi- and Sciences. Woelfel is a winner of the sion Digital News Association. Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism, the Emmy, the Edward R. Murrow and Stacey Woelfel is numerous regional and local awards. He an associate professor at is the author of “Suspicious Signs: Effects the University of Mis- of Newscaster Scripts, Symbols and Ac- souri School of Journalism tions on Audience Perceptions of News and the news director for Organization Bias” and wrote a chapter KOMU-TV, the university-owned NBC in “Silenced: International Journalists affiliate for central Missouri. The com- Expose Media Censorship.” He holds a mercial station serves as the teaching doctorate in political science. laboratory for the School of Journalism. Woelfel is a frequent instructor in free Kent Zelas is a blog media practices for journalists world- editor with the AOL wide, having taught working journalists Huffington Post Media multiple times in China, Croatia, Mexi- Group. He was previously co, Moldov and Montenegro. His focus with the Pew Charitable is on sharing current trends and best Trusts; The Los Angeles Times, where practices to reach audiences more effec- he was the assistant readers’ represen- tively. He was the national chairman of tative, news editor, copy editor and the Radio Television Digital News Foun- page designer; and The Orange County dation and the Radio Television Digital Register, where he was a wire editor and News Association; was a member of the copy editor. u

3CHAPTER 5 SHOW CONTENTS CHAPTER 74 Telling the Truth 58 7 Notable Incidents Adapted in part from “The Summer of Sin Chronology” by Craig Silverman

January 2013 publisher said that editors had been The Toronto Star suffered two pla- unable to find 69 people in 34 stories giarism cases in a week. One article published since 1998. When confront- included material lifted from a Globe ed, Jeffrey confessed to fabricating and Mail report. The other was an people and quotes. op-ed piece submitted by a Toronto school official. The Star apologized to The Summit Daily News in Colorado readers and said it would begin using apologized to its readers for a Dec. plagiarism-detection software. 23 article that was nearly identical to one on The Summit Business Journal’s website. Calling the incident “a de- December 2012 liberate act of plagiarism,” the paper A veteran Cape Cod Times reporter, said, “We do not tolerate such actions Karen Jeffrey, was exposed as a se- and we have taken steps to ensure such rial fabricator. The paper’s editor and behavior is not repeated in the future.”

November 2012 examination by Poynter’s Andrew Beau- A Hartford Courant reporter, Hill- jon found another example of theft. ary Federico, resigned after the paper found in two of her stories “words or The Sydney Morning Herald suspend- phrases that bear strong similarities ed, then fired a columnist, Tanveer to work that appeared in other publi- Ahmed, after he was exposed as a serial cations.” plagiarist in a report by Media Watch. Ahmed later published a column in October 2012 The Australian apologizing for his pla- A writer for Penn State’s The Daily giarism, adding: “The reality is dawn- Collegian was suspended after one of ing upon me that I’ve been a plagiarist his articles was found to contain fabri- for the past couple of years. I didn’t cated quotes and plagiarized material. know the extent of the problem.”

September 2012 The Globe and Mail suspended Mar- The East Valley Tribune in Arizona garet Wente after finding plagiarism announced that an intern from Ari- in a column she wrote. The paper’s zona State University had plagiarized editor said the column “did not meet several articles while working at the the standards of The Globe and Mail paper. The Arizona State student pa- in terms of sourcing, use of quotation per, The State Press, said it had dis- marks and reasonable credit for the covered plagiarism by a contributor work of others.” who also worked at The East Valley Tribune. August 2012 Fareed Zakaria, the CNN host and The Spectator, the student paper at Co- Time magazine editor, confessed to lumbia University, announced that an plagiarizing two paragraphs from the article by Jade Bonacolta had included New Yorker writer Jill Lepore in a col- passages from The New York Times. She umn for Time. He apologized. Time also fabricated a quote. A subsequent and CNN both suspended him and

reviewed his work, finding no further removed from ESPN.com until De- problems. cember, when ESPN’s vice president and executive editor, John Walsh, was A Boston Globe editorial was partly questioned about Hoppes during a plagiarized from an article published visit to a journalism class. by WBUR, an NPR affiliate. The paper refused to identify the author or June 2012 discuss disciplinary action. A whistleblower disclosed that hun- dreds of stories produced by Jour- Jim Romenesko reported that a Ne- natic, an “outsourcing” company, bore vada Appeal column by Bob Thomas fake bylines and, in at least one case, included material taken from an In- plagiarized material and fabricated ternet essay. information.

July 2012 The New Canaan News in Connecti- NPR admitted that an intern’s account cut fired a staff writer, Paresh Jha, of an execution in Afghanistan includ- after discovering that he’d fabricated ed plagiarized material. sources in at least 25 stories.

Tamara Bell, a staff photographer, was Jonah Lehrer, the New Yorker staff fired by The Pioneer Press after she re- writer, Wired contributor and best- peatedly fabricated material for photo selling author, repeatedly recycled essays. The paper said it was strength- passages in blog posts, fabricated ma- ening its ethics training and adopting terial in at least one book and plagia- a photo-checking system. rized material from multiple sources. Lehrer resigned from The New Yorker Deadspin reported that an ESPN after it was revealed that he had fab- writer, Lynn Hoppes, had plagiarized ricated quotes from Bob Dylan in his from Wikipedia on numerous occa- book “Imagine.” Wired later severed sions. The plagiarized pieces were not ties with him.

ies, had plagiarized from the AP and The Wall Street Journal dismissed Liane ClickZ.com, among other sources. The Membis, an intern, after learning that paper announced that de Borchgrave she had fabricated sources and quotes in would take a leave of absence. three articles. The Huffington Post later removed a contribution from her be- April 2012 cause of fabrication, and she was said to The Contra Costa Times apologized to have had problems with accuracy while The Los Angeles Times after discovering at The Yale Daily News. that an editorial published in early April was “nearly identical” in its “approach” to Michael Norman, a journalism profes- one previously published in Los Angeles. sor at New York University, discovered that a syndicated Oliver North column A Washington Post reporter, Elizabeth included a passage from Norman’s 1990 Flock, resigned after an editor’s note book “These Good Men: Friendships said one of her blog posts “made inap- Forged in War.” The plagiarized materi- propriate, extensive use of an original al was removed from the online column. report by Discovery News and also failed to credit that news organization as the The Poughkeepsie Journal apologized primary source for the blog post.” to The Daily Freeman of Kingston, N.Y., for lifting material from a story The Reporter, a magazine published at about a proposed tuition hike. the Rochester Institute of Technology, fired three writers after discovering May 2012 plagiarism in two articles. Salon.com and Erik Wemple of The Washington Post both presented evi- March 2012 dence that Arnaud de Borchgrave, a The Sentry, a weekly in South Portland- Washington Times columnist and di- Cape Elizabeth, Me., fired a reporter, rector and senior adviser of the Center Michael J. Tobin, for plagiarizing from for Strategic and International Stud- two competing papers, The Forecaster

and Current. Tobin also wrote about a denied the accusation, then issued an local council meeting as if he’d been apology. there when he had not. February 2012 A writer for The Colonnade, a student A story on FoxNews.com included pas- newspaper at Georgia College & State sages lifted from The Atlantic Wire. University, was dismissed after pla- The site added an editor’s note about giarizing from the Associated Press. the plagiarism and offered an apology.

The Gazette of Montreal fired Paul January 2012 Carbray, a longtime soccer columnist The Fairfield Minuteman in Connecti- and former copy editor, after discover- cut fired its sports editor, Eric Mont- ing that he had repeatedly plagiarized. gomery, after he plagiarized from two competing papers. Jon Flatland, a columnist and former president of the North Dakota News- June 2011 paper Association, was exposed as a The Chicago Sun-Times fired Paige serial plagiarist. Dave Fox, the writer Wiser after she wrote a “Glee Live!” who exposed Flatland, estimated that concert review that included details “80 to 90 percent” of his columns in- about a song that was not performed cluded stolen material. and a song that she did not stay at the concert long enough to hear. Steve Jeffrey, the publisher and editor of the Anchor Weekly in Chestermere, The Denver Post discovered that Alberta, plagiarized a significant por- Woody Paige, the sports columnist, tion of his “Sittin’ in the Lighthouse” had plagiarized quotes from a Sports- columns. George Waters, who ex- Business Journal article. The Post ran a posed the plagiarism, said he’d identi- correction and added a note to the col- fied stolen material in 42 of the 52 column saying that it had been updated to umns he’d looked at. Jeffrey initially include an attribution.

March 2011 dated with a reference to Marshall and a The Washington Post suspended Sari note about the lack of proper attribution. Horwitz for plagiarizing parts of a story about the shooting of Gabrielle 2005 Mitch Albom, the radio and TV Giffords, the Arizona Congresswom- personality and a sports columnist for an. The paper apologized, and so did The Detroit Free Press, wrote a column Horwitz, saying: “Under the pressure that made it seem as though he had at- of tight deadlines, I did something I tended a Final Four basketball game have never done in my entire career. I when he had not. Albom said two for- used another newspaper’s work as if it mer college players were there, though were my own. It was wrong. It was in- they did not attend the game. Albom excusable.” was briefly suspended

January 2011 2004 Jack Kelley fabricated parts of at The Village Voice severed ties with a least eight major stories in USA Today. freelance writer, Rob Sgobbo, after it The paper conducted an internal in- discovered that he had fabricated char- vestigation and Kelley resigned. acters for a story about for-profit colleges. The New York Daily News also 2003 Jayson Blair of The New York terminated its relationship with him. Times plagiarized material from other news organizations, used phony date- ESPN suspended Will Selva for lifting lines and fabricated quotes. He re- parts of a newspaper column and us- signed. The Times ran a front-page and ing them in a script. filled four inside pages with its account of the scandal, calling it “a profound Earlier Incidents betrayal of trust and a low point in the 2009 Maureen Dowd of The New York 152-year history of the newspaper.” Times plagiarized a paragraph from the blog of Josh Marshall, the Talking Points 1998 Mike Barnicle of The Boston Memo editor. Dowd’s column was up- Globe plagiarized jokes from “Brain

Droppings,” a book by the comedian than 25 stories for The New Republic, George Carlin. The Globe suspended George magazine and Rolling Stone. him, then asked him to resign. Glass was fired from The New Republic after Forbes reported that he had fabri- 1998 Patricia Smith, also of The Bos- cated a story called “Hack Heaven.” ton Globe, was forced to resign after it was discovered that she had made 1980 Janet Cooke wrote a sensational up characters in her columns. ASNE account about an 8-year-old heroin rescinded her 1998 award for distin- addict for The Washington Post. After guished writing, though none of the months of controversy, the story won columns that won were found to con- a Pulitzer Prize. But it turned out to tain fabricated material. be untrue. Cooke resigned and was stripped of the prize. 1998 Stephen Glass fabricated more u

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3CHAPTER 6 SHOW CONTENTS CHAPTER 84 Telling the Truth 65 8 What They’re Saying “With rapid advances in technology and many challenges facing newsrooms, along with many new ‘information providers,’ a focus on best guidelines and practices has become critical to our industry.” Brad Dennison President, Large Daily Division, GateHouse Media Inc. President, Associated Press Media Editors

“Plagiarism and fabrication undermine the credibility of all professional journalists. And readers need credible information more than ever with the cacophony of voices on the Internet, some of which are masquerading as journalism.” Teresa Schmedding Deputy Managing Editor, Daily Herald Media Group President, American Copy Editors Society

“The foundation of journalism is the trust between reporter and reader. Plagiarism and fabrication break that bond.” Dylan Smith Editor and publisher, TucsonSentinel.com Chairman, Local Independent Online News Publishers

“Incidents of plagiarism hurt the credibility not only of the guilty journalist, but of our entire profession. It’s great to see this important issue addressed by the industry.” Vincent Duffy News director, Michigan Radio Chairman, Radio Television Digital News Association

“Transparency and accountability are important to journalism, regardless of the media or audience. This includes being honest about the source of what we include in our work.” Hugo Rodrigues Multimedia journalist, The Expositor, Brantford, Ontario President, Canadian Association of Journalists

“Questions about what is true and what is fabricated, and what is an original source or what might be plagiarized, have become vital to our craft. Our ethical standards must be upheld and adapted as our way of communicating evolves.” Paul Cheung Global interactive editor, Associated Press President, Asian American Journalists Association

“In today’s turbulent marketplace, journalists and news organizations prove our value by providing original, truthful work. Plagiarism and fabrication damage the credibility of innocent journalists and news organizations and betray our readers and viewers.” Jim Brady Editor in chief, Digital First Media President, Online News Association u

3CHAPTER 7 SHOW CONTENTS SOURCES4 Telling the Truth 67 Sources Hyperlinks to web pages are shown below as blue underlined text. To return to the related page in the text, touch or click on the page number to the left of the link. In Chapters 1 through 5, words or phrases in bold indicate links. To move from the text to the appropriate page of links, touch or click on the SHOW SOURCES button at the bottom of the text page. PAGE C hapter 1 3 The Poynter Institute — “Summer of Sin” …he wrote, “would be… C hapter 2 6 Norman Lewis — “Paradigm Disguise” [dissertation]

6 The Seattle Times — Plagiarism/Attribution Guidelines

6 National Public Radio — Standards

6 Radio Television Digital News Association — Code of Ethics

9 National Press Photographers Association — Code of Ethics

10 Radio Television Digital News Association — Code of Ethics

11 The Poynter Institute — “Summer of Sin”

12 Walter Cronkite School of Journalism — Guidelines on Plagiarism

13 Los Angeles Times — Ethics Guidelines

13 The Seattle Times — goes into greater detail

13 The Poynter Institute — “recycling material without disclosure”

14 Plagiarism Today — “If attribution can be done, it should be done.”

PAGE C hapter 3 17 Plagiarism Today — Jonathan Bailey says bloggers

19 The New York Observer — Zachary Kouwe…says his plagiarism

19 Washington City Paper — plagiarized four sentences

20 The Washington Post — Booth was suspended

20 American Psychological Association — phenomenon of cryptomnesia

20 The Daily Beast — about “unconscious plagiarism.”

20 Slate.com — In her apology

20 The Washington Post — A column by Patrick B. Pexton

21 The NYTPicker — called her out

21 CNN.com — described as a “pressure cooker” in a 2011 CNN article

21 CBS.com — In a 2012 CBS News report

22 Slate.com — He admitted to copying

22 Miami New Times News — found 16 more instances of plagiarism

22 AJC.com — more than a third of which was lifted

22 JimRomenesko.com — questioned by Jim Romenesko

22 Slate.com — examined 18 Lehrer pieces

23 The New York Times — in his apology

23 Cape Cod Times — published a front-page apology

23 SouthCoastToday.com — wrote Bob Unger (chapter 3 continued)

28 Nieman Journalism Lab — relevant links

28 Webopedia.com — Links

28 The NewsManual.net — attribution

28 Owl.English.Purdue.edu — Footnotes

28 SteveButtry.Wordpress.com — linking as a courtesy

28 Mashable.com — a business getting billions

28 SteveButtry.Wordpress.com — Google — built its success

29 seomoz.org — links also make content more attractive

29 BuzzMachine.com — do what they do best

29 Storify.com — web-native tools

29 Spundge.com — web-native tools

29 Publish2.com — web-native tools

30 YouTube.com — refer to videos

30 Scribd.com — tool

30 DocumentCloud.org — tool

30 SteveButtry.Wordpress.com — databases searchable and interactive

PAGE C hapter 4 33 The Seattle Times — Plagiarism/Attribution Guidelines

33 Northwest Missouri State University — Guide to Diagnosing Plagiarism

33 Plagiarism.BloomfieldMedia.com — WCopyfind Software

34 Accurint.com — LexisNexis Accurint product

34 The New York Times — reported that her editors used Accurint

34 MRC.com — The Media Research Center

34 The Poynter Institute — Regret the Error, Craig Silverman’s column

34 JimRomenesko.com — Jim Romenesko, who covers the media

34 iMediaEthics.org — formerly known as StinkyJournalism.org

34 Media Watch — Australian television show

34 AJR.org — American Journalism Review

34 CJR.org — Columbia Journalism Review

34 The Poynter Institute — Anna Tarkov reports

35 ThisAmericanLife.org — Smith said on the program

35 FourAndSix.com — FourMatch extension for Adobe Photoshop

35 CJR.org — the problem of digital doctoring

35 The Poynter Institute — Farid’s Fourandsix colleague Kevin Connor

35 regex.info — EXIF viewer

35 Mozilla.org — Firefox add-on (chapter 4 continued)

36 Slideshare.net — “Detecting Fauxtography”

36 Snopes.com — the urban legend tracker

36 CreativeCommons.com — where photos are certainly safe to use

36 iTunes.Apple.com — Marksta app for iPhone and iPad

36 Storyful.blog — processes for validating social media posts

36 WhitePages.com — to find out if the contributors are listed

37 MediaBistro.com — according to Mary C. Long

37 Support.Twitter.com — According to its help center page…

37 The New York Times — “There are risks if you create…”

42 The Poynter Institute — the merits of rehabilitation over

43 The Poynter Institute — “How to handle plagiarism…” C hapter 5 43 Arizona School of Journalism — Academic Integrity Handbook

46 Walter Cronkite School of Journalism — The policy says:

48 InsideHigherEd.com — attempt to thwart plagiarism u

More information about the National Summit to Fight Plagiarism & Fabrication can be found on the American Copy Editors Society website at: www.copydesk.org/plagiarism/.

SHOW CONTENTS