Zakaria, M. Crowley and other apparent infringers

The Morris Sun Tribune had a writer a few years back, a "stringer" and not full-time, who engaged in blatant plagiarism. Before the excrement hit the fan with that, I visited my friend Del Sarlette of Sarlettes Music and expressed suspicion of this writer's material, saying it seemed lifted. Maybe the paper's management was too lazy to confront the writer with the appropriate questions.
My suspicion wasn't based on anything concrete, just a sense. Well, I am a lifelong writer and journalist.
One day I perused the Morris paper (which I do not buy) and noticed a headline about how a certain article was being "retracted." The Forum Communications legal department probably advised this route to take, based on the naked plagiarism having been discovered. The writer lifted material from "Baby Boomer Women." Now, it's possible some people just don't have a natural instinct about plagiarism being wrong. I'll allow for this explanation re. the writer in question, who happens to be in the same Morris High School graduating class as Sarlette.
 
A "lifting" discovery at Mpls. paper
I posted on Sunday (on "I Love Morris") about how Colin Covert of the Star Tribune was forced to resign over much more small-scale "lifting." Covert's case just involved phrases, a few words here and there. I expressed fear about precedent in a case like Covert's, like it might have a chilling effect for writers who wish to employ means of expression, distinctive words, that they had simply learned from their reading.

Fareed Zakaria

I argue that the whole purpose of our reading is to expand our grasp of knowledge and mastery of the language. We tap that mastery in our own writing. Mike Barnicle resigned from the Boston Globe for what he would say was "joke stealing." The esteemed Fareed Zakaria of CNN had his own bout with lifting charges. No two of these cases are exactly alike. Zakaria's case is interesting because he actually changed some words in what he appeared to borrow. You might call it "editing," employing your own judgment. A more cynical view is that Zakaria changed some words just to avoid plagiarism detection.
There was a brief fuss about Zakaria's alleged transgressions. CNN said it would look further into his work. But a journalist subsequently noted that CNN's pledge appeared to be poppycock, because other transgressions from the guy's background could in fact be found, but CNN was choosing to just "move on." Zakaria has high standing in international journalism and analysis. He has a good following.
So I'm wondering: maybe the bar is being lowered, maybe for the better, on such matters. Here's the deal: We have moved into a copy/paste world with digital life. It's a world in which people present views and build audiences without necessarily getting paid for it. No one excuses "stealing," absolutely. But I think the younger generation is softer on this, perhaps arguing that severe sanctions should be reserved for blatant ripoff cases.
 

Monica Crowley

When is plagiarism "news?"
When Monica Crowley's plagiarism became known, I think the media didn't give it enough attention. I began wondering if a new understanding was setting into the media, that being: don't hype a plagiarism story unless there is an actual aggrieved party who is launching a tangible legal action. Otherwise it's just the reporter's judgment, subjective.
Fox News - always put an asterisk next to that - tried hyping Elizabeth Warren's alleged plagiarism once. I swear they began each news hour with this for a day or two, but when all was said and done, it turned out the other writer had plagiarized Warren and not the other way around! Like I said, use an asterisk with that bastard organization.
And I remember the notorious "Fox and Friends," Trump's fountain for filling his head, talking about Jimmy Carter "plagiarizing a map" for a book. I suppose you could technically plagiarize a map. But a map simply represents hard facts and presents no creativity or originality except in a purely cosmetic way, and I suppose the cosmetic aspects are not to be tossed aside. I'm not sure how that matter turned out. If an actual judgment or settlement happened, I probably would have caught it on the news.
I think the Colin Covert case is going to give movie reviewers the jitters. I mean, reviewers I'm sure read other reviewers' work exhaustively. They pick up interesting points and observations in which they'd find merit in many cases. So, when sitting down to write your own stuff, you might legitimately want to record or reflect points of merit digested from other reviews. And naturally you don't want to "steal." But now I guess you have to go through the gymnastics of ensuring your words are 100 percent original and that you don't so much as use a particular adjective that you may have picked up.
And as I argued in my first post, the whole purpose of reading is to learn, to add to our vocabulary etc. We assimilate background from media sources all the time, TV discussions in the background etc. If we hear an anecdote that applies to something we'll write about in the future, we might legitimately want to use that, not in the spirit of "stealing" but in the spirit of tapping our knowledge.
 
Egg on face of Morris paper
I must say, the plagiarism episode at the Morris Sun Tribune didn't just cross a line, it was a a flying leap. I left a message on the answering machine of the infringed-upon writer suggesting she consider suing. I guess she had been told the infringing writer had been "fired." The strategy there was to try to encourage some sympathy for the Morris writer. We're all despondent when someone gets fired.
But of course this pronouncement was misleading because as a "stringer," her employment was hardly employment at all. It's my understanding she had a job at UMM, a totally plum job in the community. The Forum appeared to settle the matter by "retracting" the story. The bottom line for this is "don't get sued."
The Minnesota News Council used to exist, not in the spirit of pure justice but as a way of protecting its member newspapers from getting sued. You see, even though the Council's judgment could sting - "shame on you" - papers actually greeted this with a wink. The short-term humiliation, as experienced here in Morris when Jim Morrison was in charge, was offset by avoiding a lawsuit. Wink, wink to be sure. The Council no longer exists. Seems quaint now.
Papers have been sliding into irrelevance. My current post on "I Love Morris" is about the apparently shaky status of the Morris newspaper. I note several factors there, aided by a source friend of mine who's still in the business, and here's what I think is really telling: I did not see a simple Morris staff photo, even a small one, with the Christmas greeting edition. We used to do a full page as a greeting to the community. It seemed obvious. A couple years ago I noticed the photo being quite small, as everything in the paper has become small, if it's even there at all.
I suppose the paper needs to ponder the propriety of including part-time employees in the "staff photo." Maybe some part-timers would actually balk at being in the photo. It lets the paper brag about having a staff that isn't really a full-fledged staff. Newspapers are cutting in all sorts of ways. In Morris this has been in spades with our paper.
Oh, they're not alone. Look how Thrifty White has pulled the rug out from under us. It's a tiny specialized store now on the windswept northern outskirts of Morris. I used to get my bird seed, notebooks and envelopes at Thrifty White. Gone with the wind. Just like the Morris newspaper will be, probably soon. And when it happens, maybe nobody will care.
It already happened in Hancock where the paper was owned by the Forum. Hancock is viable enough to have its own K-12 school system, a system that is in fact thriving and growing. A community like this should be able to hang in there with its own paper, for at least another decade. Think of the great sports section that could be done with the generous success they're having. I did sportswriting for the Hancock Record for 15 years. (Note: A source tells me Hancock is getting lots of kids from the Starbuck area due to a negative perception of the Minnewaska school.)
 

Cindy McCain

A cookbook? You've got to be kidding
On the absurd end of the plagiarism accusation scale, not far from Jimmy Carter's map, was the Cindy McCain cookbook. Remember that? It was when John McCain was running for president. I mean, can you believe that? Such a middle of the road sensible person running for president as a Republican, in total contrast to the wild nutjobs in charge of the GOP now?
Plagiarizing a cookbook? Oh for crying out loud. Technically it's possible or shall we say unavoidable. What these authors should really say is "here are some of my favorite recipes." How many ways can you make French toast?
The McCains were in politics so their every move was under a microscope. Liberal Democrats of course opposed McCain. Today John McCain and others like him - Mitt Romney? - are total heroes to the progressives! Curiouser and curiouser. You know, Romney should actually be anathema to what progressives represent.
Plagiarizing a cookbook? What about all the recipe columnists out there like the late Phyllis Peterson for our Morris newspaper? Aren't they just sharing "favorite recipes?" Surely we don't expect these recipes to be "original" and I wouldn't want to touch them if they were!
Plagiarism charges can easily tip over to the silly end. On judging real, identifiable plagiarism, I'm inspired by the judge who famously said of pornography: "I can't define it but I know it when I see it."
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com