I think it’s a credit to blogging that we’ve become so meticulous about citing our sources. To counteract the fact that literally anybody can blog, we’ve become very good at increasing our credibility through citations. The lack of transparency demonstrated by this journalist is, in my view, not helpful for the reader or the story.

Personally I feel that if it were copied word-for-word, then you have grounds to be irritated and legal rights to pursue it. But if the blog inspired her to write an article on the topic, that’s another story (sorry, no puns intended here). I didn’t read the article vs. your blog so I don’t know how to respond to your issue.

But obviously the journalist Michele Young is borderline ethical and she knows it.. What kind of professional journalist would answer:

“er, I guess I stole it.”
=> what?!

“I didn’t realize you were planning on quoting me when we spoke this morning.”
=>umm, and you call yourself a journalist? Don’t you know everything you said may end up on a blog somewhere, *especially* you know your speaking with a blogger?!

“you did catch me when my mind was focused on other things.”
=>In other words, she is saying “You were not important enough for me to focus on you in this meeting.”

“I get phone calls regularly from people raising issues or questions — as your item did. News media do not name someone for raising a question. They do raise sources who provide answers. I hope that clarifies the issue.”
=>It’s different when someone actively calls you up and tip you that info, it’s another story you google and find it on the blog.

I think she handled herself and represented her newspaper poorly, it was just unprofessional and laughable. I didn’t go to journalism school, but it doesn’t take one to figure out that logic is a big part of their jobs.

Just my 2 cents.

Cheers,
Cindy

I spoke with the journalist in question just after it was printed and they also said that they had used the blog for content and not said who wrote it in the first place.

I ended up getting free PR at a later date as a result of a friendly conversation with the dood in question… it turned out to benefit me in the long run… just a bit of luck maybe, but that may be an idea…

cheers!

And to make matters worse, another reporter overheard her trying to sell the article to a national magazine.

I spoke to the editor who claimed that his employee had to totally rewrite and edit what I sent in. This was total BS – she hadn’t changed a thing.

So, I faxed all my notes and the original document to my solicitor. And upon his advice, invoiced the publication for a ridiculously high amount. As he guessed they would – they paid me a lower sum immediately, but they never apologised.

It was annoying, that my byline was stolen, because I was writing to build up clips at the time.

How much work did she actually steal from you? Was it more or less the same story with the words changed?

Or did she approach it from a different angle and add new materials?

If the former is the case – you should be able to do something about it and if so, it might worth considering doing the same as what I did – speak to the editor and if you get know joy, send them a hefty bill. Just think of a sum and add a zero on the end.

I do credit my ideas sources as for me, they deserve the credit since I am inspired of what to write because of their articles.

Also, linking out has been a good way to network with other bloggers. He/she will not know that you are writing about their articles without you linking to them. Cross blog discussions or conversations will not only help spreading your ideas, you might also make new friends who shares the same views on certain issues over the blogosphere.

What happens if I work for the Daily Herald (names are fictitious) and the Local Weekly runs an interesting story that I think has relevance to my readers? Let’s say the Local Weekly quotes the local mayor and a number of High Street shopkeepers. Do I copy the Local Weekly story? No, I do not. But do I quote the Local Weekly or cite it as a source? No, I do not.

What I do is call up the local mayor and get a fresh interview and go down the High Street and talk to shopkeepers myself. Do I cite my sources? Yes, I do. But the “sources” in the story are the mayor and the shopkeepers, not the Local Weekly story that gave me the idea.

If, however, the Local Weekly had access to special council documents that had been leaked in a sensational or noteworthy way then I might mention them because the fact that the story got out, and the method by which it got out, has become part of the story.

It’s about what best serves the READERS. They usually don’t care who said what first, they just want the news.

Blogging is different because one of the features of blogs is the conversation and the linking and citing. As a blogger, I always cite sources and I link where possible. But what I am doing is not the same as reporting and my duty is to my peers as much as it is to the readers. There’s also reciprocity – I expect other bloggers to also link and cite when they are bouncing ideas that I originated. It’s all part of the game and it’s lots of fun. It’s different to, but not better than, journalism.

Give any opinionated goofball out there a keyboard and an internet connection and suddenly they’re to be respected the same as a New York Times journalist.

Newsflash: There’s a big difference between stealing content and elaborating on ideas available to the general public.

Newspapers get ideas for stories all the time – from contacts and sources, from blogs, from other newspapers and media outlets. There is no copyright in the idea and no rule that whoever does the story first must be acknowledged – the newspaper will simply do its own investigation and redo the story as its own.

Generally speaking, aknowledgement will be given only in cases when:
a) the story is a scoop and the newspaper is feeling generous enough to acknowledge the scoop, or it is so big that they really have to (think Watergate, not a local sports facility).
or b) it suits the purpose of the article to draw attention to public opinionin the blogosphere (quoting blogs can be a lazy replacement for pavement pounding and getting vox pops from real life people) or the media attention that an issue has received.
or c) the newspaper has been unable to do its own investigation and verify the information in the original story. Therefore they will use information and quotes citing the original source, rather than claim it as their own. This is as much to cover themselves if the info is wrong as it is to give acknowledgement – it signals to the reader that they haven’t actually verified the info so it serves to make it more questionnable than credible.

But if we’re going to criticize ‘real’ journalists for ethical lapses and not properly citing sources, we as bloggers should be just as vigilant (if not more) since we have the ability to easily provide a link to our source.

As for the news story if you can’t prove that plagiarism took place then I say drop the issue but keep an eye on the reporter. Good relations with the press may be valuable in the future.

There’s one way to bite back.. take one of their stupid stories and publish (re-written) on your site (with no credit).. maybe they won’t like how it feels either.

If they want to play that game, then let them… Their loss for not forming a good relationship with a (much more) influential blogger.

In the end, my readers out-number theirs 1000 to 1… so burn on them!