“So, she made a mistake. What’s the big deal?”
It’s a comment I’ve been hearing and reading a lot since former Massachusetts Daily Collegian writer Nicole Sobel admitted last week to plagiarizing parts of a New York Times article in her Collegian column entitled “Free-range, not bacteria-free.”
There has been private as well as public debate on the incident, most notably on the Collegian’s comments section accompanying the article, as well as the University of Massachusetts Journalism Department’s blog, where I blogged about the issue as well.
Comments have varied, including versions of: “She made a mistake, move on.” Or suggestions that folks should show her compassion, that college is a place to make mistakes. On the other end of the spectrum, many journalism students, both past and present, offer little sympathy for Sobel’s admitted transgression.
“It certainly is that big of a deal, and unfortunately Ms. Sobel has to take the fall in order to prevent her fellow students from being taught the wrong lesson: that you can get away with this,” wrote Mike Deehan, a 2007 journalism graduate, on the comments board to my blog entry.
“People are ‘overreacting,’ because the severity of the transgression has to be made clear. Yeah, it sucks that Sobel is being humiliated, but her experience will hopefully put the fear of God into anyone who may at some point be tempted to steal someone else’s work,” Deehan wrote.
So, what’s the big deal? Is this a black-and-white issue or one with some grey?
We frequently talk ethics in my classes and while I guide the discussion. I often leave my own opinions out, preferring students work out the issue on their own. However, plagiarism is not one of those areas. In my syllabi I state the following:
“Academic dishonesty, including cheating, fabrication, facilitating academic dishonesty and plagiarism (including use of unauthorized photos, graphics or text from the Web) will not be tolerated.”
We talk specifically about what plagiarism is in my classes. The clearest definition of plagiarism is a simple generic one used by many: Passing off someone else’s work as your own. Journalism is tricky though, because we are interviewing, researching and ultimately writing about what others think. That is why journalism educators spend so much time talking about attribution. Sure, quote what others are saying, but let your readers know where the information is coming from.
“Transparency” is a concept many toss around but few practice. Yet it is a bedrock concept for journalists, one that helps reporters and editors develop credibility with their audience – whether online, in print, radio or television. And, credibility is the only currency we journalists can barter with. Lose that and it’s time to move on.
“Credibility is everything in our business,” says Matthew B. Lee, the editor for ESPN.com’s Blog Network.
“Is the reporter – and by extension the news organization the reporter represents – a credible, trustworthy source for reliable, accurate, and balanced information?”
I often link to and quote Mindy McAdams, a professor at the University of Florida. “A journalist is expected to provide clear and true attribution for all sources, including copied text,” writes McAdams on her blog. “It does not matter if you copied it from the Internet or from a newswire service. It is not yours. Don’t pretend it is.”
“If you violate the ethics of journalism on the job, you could be fired,” writes McAdams.
Sobel has been fired from The Collegian. But I often wonder whether students think we journalism educators exaggerate about the ramifications of ethical lapses, despite the lessons provided by Janet Cooke, Jayson Blair and others.
Ann Thompson, a former colleague of mine at The Washington Post, reminded me that I wasn’t exaggerating. She recounted one incident with an intern during her time as metro editor for The Post’s website. The intern had an assignment to do a mental health story and as Thompson read it, a quote assigned to a named source didn’t quite read right to her. When she asked the intern for clarification, the intern said she made the source up.
Within hours Thompson and another editor escorted the intern down to the Human Resource coordinator to officially end her internship. While Thompson told me the experience was awful, she told the intern that she had committed an egregious breach of journalistic ethics and that the risks of keeping her around were too great.
“No second chance. No ‘mistake.’ No tolerance of explanation. Huge risk to newsroom. Not worth it. The end,” Thompson added.
I can hear it now: “OK, Fox, lighten up, isn’t the college environment a place to learn from such mistakes?”
Almost every practicing journalist I have spoken with gave little breathing room when it came to plagiarism, regardless of setting.
ESPN.com’s Lee was blunt: “Plagiarism is lazy and deceitful and not an accident that can simply be ‘apologized’ for. It is a conscious act. Typos are accidents. Plagiarism is not an accident and it is an act for which there is tangible, irrefutable evidence.”
Clearly there is a lesson to be learned here.
The journalism profession is an exciting one. Despite the continued transformation, I think the industry will survive – it will just be constructed a little differently. Yet, as more and more news organizations focus on their online operations and begin to pursue partnerships, the environment will get even more intense. The pressures to be first will heighten. Many of the ethical principles you learn in college will be challenged.
I realize and understand students are under mounting pressures to perform. Juggling school obligations, jobs, family, friends, significant others, social schedules, etc., can seem overwhelming at times. But, if you’re planning on going into journalism, these are pressures that will grow geometrically once you enter the business. And, ultimately, missing a deadline, handing in a paper or getting to a party late are situations easily rectified. Breaching an ethical principle such as plagiarism isn’t.
We live in a society where we try to explain away much. How much time did we spend parsing what the definition of is, is? The concept of accountability has been subsumed by a culture searching to shift blame and pass off excuses.
Compassion is one thing, reality is another. We as educators need to do a better job of teaching students to understand the ramifications of their actions and to be accountable. To me, that’s true compassion.
(Steve Fox has been a reporter and editor for 20 years, including 10 at The Washington Post’s website. He is currently a lecturer and the Multimedia Journalism Coordinator in the UMass Journalism Department. He also edits part-time for ESPN.com’s Blog Network.)
In this world we as a people have decided to pass punishment for what we consider wrong deeds. We do not give the death penalty for a speeding ticket nor should we give it for Ms Sobels error. Yes she did a wrong deed and she admitted to it. But come on out there , look in the mirror. Do you see anyone guilty of a wrong deed ? If you do see someone, which you will if you are honest, do you feel that your wrong deed deserved the death penalty ? Because what you are doing to Ms. Sobel is killing her future. You are delegating a death penalty to her future goals in journalism for a mistake which she surely will never make again. Let the punishment fit the crime. Her situation has brought out some interesting views and has most probably not only taught a lesson to Ms. Sobel, but to other writers. A positive side to the story, yes ? Treat others as you wish to be treated. Be kind, not cruel. When someone is down, reach out your hand and help them up, do not kick them