April 10, 2003 6:40 AM

Who would have expected this?

Noted War Blogger Cops to Copying (Point)

Rants & Raves (Counterpoint)

To a large degree, plagiarism depends on who is doing the defining. All of us "borrow" items that we then post and weave into our own creations. Most of us remember to credit sources appropriately, but anyone who doesn't admit to occasionally not crediting a source once in a while is probably lying. Mistakes happen. The problem, of course, is when the practice of "borrowing" becomes a substitute for creating original content. Whether under the pressure of a deadline, writer's block, or a simple lack of ambition, plagiarism is a practice that is dishonest, disingenuous, and adversely impacts all of us who maintain a presence on the Internet.

With those thoughts in mind, I was saddened to receive this email yesterday from Sean-Paul Kelly:

I talked to Howard Kurtz yesterday who said the Wired story was a hatchet job if he'd ever seen one. He sent me an email and we talked. He said he wanted to be fair and not judge the thing on one article. We had a nice talk.

Needless to say, what I did was stupid and wrong. I hope you are not to disappointed in me.

Having no idea what he was referring to, I went to Hotwired.com and found the article about Sean-Paul. What I read both saddened and disturbed me. It appears that a good portion of what has been posted on The Agonist has been copied wholesale from an online proprietary newsletter that Sean-Paul subscribes to.

In the interest of self-disclosure, I should mention that I consider Sean-Paul to be a good friend, which makes this revelation that much more difficult for me to process. On the one hand, I condemn the behavior, but on the other, I know that Sean-Paul is a good man whose heart is in the right place. My suspicion is that given the rush of events in Iraq and the time constraints created by trying to keep up, it may have become easier for Sean-Paul to cut a few corners here and there. Of course, the problems with shortcuts is that they manifest a slippery slope; once headed down the slope it's difficult to arrest one's momentum.

I am disappointed that Sean-Paul has admitted to behaving in a manner that can only be described as unethical. To his credit, he has owned up to his mistakes, and it does look as if he is being much more careful to properly credit sources. Credibilty, once lost, is not an easy thing to regain. My hope is that those of us who value Sean-Paul's insight, passion, and commitment will be able to both forgive and learn from his trespasses.

Thankfully, this story does have something resembling a happy ending:

In a surprisingly amicable resolution, Stratfor and Kelley have agreed that he can use no more than two Stratfor items per day, and always with attribution.

So what have we learned?? Let's remember to credit our sources, folks. There is a very thin line between borrowing and outright thievery. It is not, however, a line that is difficult to define. Perhaps that is the lesson to be taken from this tale.

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This page contains a single entry by Jack Cluth published on April 10, 2003 6:40 AM.

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