SUMMER 2013
Adviser Update
Page 7A
‘Our ethical standards must be upheld’
By Rich Holden
T
he annual conference
of the American Copy
Editors Society this
spring featured a major
symposium called “Telling
the Truth and Nothing But—
National Summit to Fight
Plagiarism and Fabrication.”
Participants included
more than 30 journalism
organizations, companies and
universities. Among those
participating in addition to
ACES were the American
Society of News Editors,
College Media Association,
Society of Professional
Journalists, the Los Angeles
Times, Omaha World-Herald
and Yahoo News. Among
the universities present were
Florida, Kansas, Missouri and
Arizona.
The group concluded that
any definition of plagiarism
needed to have its solution
— attribution — as part of the
equation. And it decided that
given the broad background
of the participants, one group
— be it print, broadcast or
multimedia — could not be
singled out.
Another point was drawing
a distinction between
plagiarism and fabrication.
The group concluded; “Both
are acts of deception. Both
are wrong, but fabrication is
especially egregious.”
It also raised the issue of
reenactment or character
creation. It noted that any
such attempts “must be
clearly and completely
explained to the audience
before it is presented.” It
did note that in some cases
sources need to be protected,
“but pseudonyms should not
be employed to identify them.
A pseudonym amounts to
“
Director’s Chair
Both [plagiarism and fabrication] are
acts of deception. Both are wrong, but
fabrication is especially egregious.
”
National Summit to Fight Plagiarism and Fabrication
a fabricated name and thus
raises the question: What else
in this story may be made
up?”
Broadcast journalism —
with its tendency to rely on
print media as its original
source — raises other
concerns. The summit
panelists suggested, “The key
to combating plagiarism in
television and radio reporting
is to generate original stories,
looking for second-day ledes
to pieces that may have
originated elsewhere and
providing clear, complete
attribution for work derived
from other sources.”
What about phrases
such as “sources said,” or
“reportedly” or “according to
authorities”? The panel had
a straightforward response.
They “are not enough. They
do little to inform while giving
journalists a false sense
that they have fulfilled their
obligation to the audience.
Attribution should serve to
answer questions, not raise
them.”
Turning to what it called
“the wild, wild web,” the panel
noted “the ease with which
work can be copied and
distributed.” It pointed to the
growing use of “aggregation”
and “curation,” a term that
belongs in a museum, not in a
news organization.
The summit participants
agreed that this can be a
difficult concept to grasp
but determined, “Journalists
working online should take
special care to ensure that
they do not infringe on
another’s copyright. Automatic
aggregation, even with
attribution, should never cross
the boundaries of fair use and
professional respect.”
The effort to stop plagiarism
and fabrication can’t begin and
end at the industry level. As
the summit participants made
clear, “It must be coordinated
with news literacy programs
not only in colleges but
also in secondary schools.
Students at all levels need to
understand the importance of
accurate, factual information,
the value of sourcing and
attribution and how news is
gathered and disseminated .”
The panel encouraged
professional journalists to
work with advice and students
interested in scholastic
journalism, saying, “Young
people need to be conscious
of news literacy and dangers
of plagiarism and fabrication.
Journalists should seek
ways — perhaps in regular
classroom visits — to help
high school and middle
school students understand
how news is gathered and
delivered.” There, the offer
is on the table. It’s up to the
advisers to accept it.
A number of panel
participants offered their own
thoughts and observations on
the topic.
Teresa Schmedding is
the deputy managing editor
of the Daily Herald Media
Group and president of the
American Copy Editors
Society. She said, “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.”
Paul Cheung, the global
interactive editor of the
Associated Press and
president of the Asian
American Journalists
Association, had the following
observation. “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 adopted as our way of
communicating evolves.”
I urge you to obtain a copy
of this e-book. You and your
students will find it interesting
and informative and an
excellent base from which
to start a discussion on the
topic. For more information,
visit the ACES website: www.
copydesk.org/plagiarism/
Rich Holden
is executive director of the Dow
Jones News Fund. Before he was
named to that position in 1992, he
was an editor for 19 years at The
Wall Street Journal and The Asian
Wall Street Journal. He was also a
lecturer in residence for two years
at the Chinese University of Hong
Kong. He can be reached at The
Dow Jones News Fund at 609452-2820 or at richard.holden@
dowjones.com.
“
”
The effort to stop
plagiarism and
fabrication can’t
begin and end at
the industry level.