All the rage these days
Plagiarism, that is. This time AP is the accused. Larisa Alexandrovna at Huffington Post writes:
We gave the advocacy groups our notes and article, which they then took to the AP and demanded that the story be covered. The AP was given our article and maybe our notes.
On March 14, 2006, the AP did their own article, left out any attribution to me or my publication and lifted not only my research but also whole sections of my article for their own (making cosmetic changes of course).
We contacted an AP senior editor and ombudsmen both and both admitted to having had the article passed on to them, and both stated that they viewed us as a blog and because we were a blog, they did not need to credit us.
She also claims to have a tape recording of the conversation where AP folks admit to their lack of regard for intellectual property rights when it comes to small online players.
While I'm no fan of her work (we're ideological opposites), she's entitled to the fruits of her labor. If one of her articles is quoted by anyone, she deserves credit.
AP needs to respond to the charge - the sooner the better. If the charges are indeed true (while Larisa's argument seems compelling, I'm trying to be fair and hold my opinion until both sides are heard) then AP needs to promptly and loudly correct the situation.
Those with an interest in seeing blogs continue to gain credibility as an alternative to the "old" media would do well to take notice.
Update (3/26/06 10:33 AM EST): I would have figured this would be an issue of equal concern to left and right, considering all the concern about plagiarism in the last week. So far there seems to be a collective silence from the blogosphere. I guess these issues are only noteworthy if some political hay can be made. Truly disappointing...
