The New York Times has once again become engulfed in a plagiarism scandal, after telling readers today that a Times reporter "appears to have improperly appropriated wording and passages published by other news organisations".
Business reporter Zachery Kouwe reused language from the Wall Street Journal, Reuters and other sources without attribution or acknowledgment, the Times said in an editor's note.
In one case a Kouwe blog post on Bernie Madoff had "extensive similarities" to an article that appeared on the Dow Jones website two hours earlier.
The paper said:
"A subsequent search by The Times found other cases of extensive overlap between passages in Mr Kouwe's articles and other news organisations'. (The search did not turn up any indications that the articles were inaccurate.)
Copying language directly from other news organisations without providing attribution – even if the facts are independently verified – is a serious violation of Times policy and basic journalistic standards. It should not have occurred. The matter remains under investigation by the Times, which will take appropriate action consistent with our standards to protect the integrity of our journalism."
The Kouwe case follows the minor plagiarism incident involving star columnist Maureen Dowd last year, and the scandal of Jayson Blair that cost executive editor Howell Raines his job.
Source: NYT
