Reply #17: Not quite plagiarism [View All]

[Pompitous_Of_Love]

Rick Bragg didn't commit plagiarism, which involves claiming someone else's published work as your own. He used at least one stringer to gather material for a feature story and that stringer wasn't credited in the subsequent story. The Times has an inconsistent record of crediting stringers and this particular instance wouldn't have aroused any controversy had it not occurred at the same moment when the Times was dealing with the Jayson Blair scandal. With a young, African-American reporter kicked to the curb, the management obviously felt that they needed some equal opportunity employment termination, so an older white guy got the axe. The problem is that responsibility for determining credit lines lies with a reporter's editor. Bragg's obviously either fell down on this one or never had bothered to credit stringers before. Canning a humble editor, however, doesn't provide the same sense of racial justice for a highly-politicized newsroom.

Rick Bragg does have some responsibility for what happened to him. First, if you don't have the time or inclination to do the reporting yourself, then don't do the story. Second, if you do use stringers or research assistants, they're your people. You make damned sure their names are attached to stories on which they've worked. They deserve that recognition and it's your responsibility to make sure whoever edits the story gets those by-lines in there. They're your people; you stand up for them.

Rick's a hell of a reporter and a hell of a writer who had fallen into some slack work habits. He got screwed by the Times, but given how completely worthless the paper has become in terms of serving the best interests of its readers, we're all pretty much in the same boat as Rick.