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Hello everyone,

There are more and more stories cropping up that are nothing but cut and paste. So I decided to take a stand today and won't be flagging anyone who has presented us with such.

What I've done instead, is to write to them privately and nicely outline what we expect from our reporters. I've been met with replies like,

"Gee thanks for the help!"

"Ohh I didn't know that was expected. Thankyou!"

"I didn't know we were allowed - great!"

And this one:

"So why do the ones with the crowns give it the GOOD STUFF flag anyway?"

I couldn't answer that - however it was that comment that made me decide that I would only flag with absolutely integrity.

As far as I'm concerned, if it's only a cut and paste, I won't be flagging it.

I'll still privately write to the reporter in question since the results of that action have proven very positive for both them and myself. In all cases, I've been able to go back and flag the posts, as the reporters had updated their stories, with their own words.

However, I wish all wranglers and editors would take the same stance. With us all flagging willy-nilly, it seems to dilute the meaning of the flag - and what really is "GOOD STUFF."

Once again, this is only my 2c and an explanation of how I'll be flagging from now on.
~ Swan

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Swan

at 12:33 on January 23rd, 2008

The following is one such comment that I left today on a report:

Hello Dunkelberg,

This is definitely an interesting story
though not flag worthy as yet. I'd like to see you put something of
yourself into your reports other than a simple cut and paste.

How do you feel about the way Bush has behaved over the past few years?

Do you believe that he deliberately lied or acted in good faith on the information he says he recieved?

I know that a lot of Texans voted for George and thought highly of him
when he was first elected, how do you think they feel now as a
collective?

What do you think of Condi and Scott Stanzel? Were they knowingly perpetuating the lies, or were they just caught in the web?

These are the kinds of thoughts and comments that would spice up your report
and encourage debate in the comments section - which is good for you -
and Now Public.

I'll come back later to see if I can (hopefully) add a GOOD STUFF flag to your story. ;)

~ Swan

Swan

at 13:46 on January 25th, 2008

If anyone happened to be curious,

We swapped pleasant emails and all is good. I was able to go back and easily flag his post. Today, he even wrote a piece that didn't have any cut and paste at all - it was all from inside him. He got another flag! :)
~ Swan

Swan

at 10:30 on March 11th, 2008

Hello again everyone,

I was almost tempted to open a new post with the title of "Obi-Akpere - Plagiarist." However, I thought better of it.

Speaking of which - I WISH it took a password to enter "Wrangler Chatter."

I've received a private email from a wrangler who quit NP because of the plagiarising behavior of Obi-Akpere. I was advised that he brought it up to management and they simply didn't want to do anything about it.

That's incredible.

I don't know if this is true or not - but something must be done about this. I received another email today advising me of exactly the same thing, this time from within Now Public.

The reason I'm getting these emails I think, is because I've left some great comments about Obi's reporting on his articles.

Duped. I feel so stupid. I always check every story with a random sentence fed into Google just to confirm that the article is original - but somehow Obi's didn't come up.

I do however trust my second source who is known to be adept and reliable within NP.

We can't let Obi continue like this!

Please - let's see some editor action on this!
~ Swan

Drew Bulman

at 10:38 on March 11th, 2008

There are some programs which back-check submitted information for matching text elsewhere. I know some schools use Turnitin.com, which is basically the same premise.

It might be something worth looking into, I suppose? It's probably pretty expensive stuff to license, however.

PEP

at 11:36 on March 11th, 2008

Hi yepokay, good suggestion. There's another site/program, too, but don't have info right at hand.

ryan

at 10:39 on March 11th, 2008

Hi Swan,

I'd appreciate if you could message me privately with the specifics of this accusation so we can work this out: Who quit? Who in 'management' didn't respond?

Thanks.

Swan

at 11:07 on March 11th, 2008

Hello Ryan,

No problem, I'll send you the details via the messaging system.

Thanks so much for investigating this.
~ Swan

Swan

at 11:50 on March 11th, 2008

Hello again Ryan,

I sought permission from both people to reveal their emails to you privately, however both are vehemently against me doing so. So unfortunately I have no "proof" that I'm able to share with you.

All I can suggest is to follow his articles from now on and attempt to identify where and from whom he stole them. Pep and I will keep an eye out, but it would be even better if the editors made a concerted effort to watch him also.

I should imagine that it won't be long before he's busted again.

Thank you to everyone concerned,
~ Swan

PEP

at 10:51 on March 11th, 2008

Swan, thanks for your concern--and action.

I so understand
about feeling duped. If we do not follow our own guidelines, and use
our own tools, we cast doubt on what we do here.

Integrity is key. If you don't believe it, check out Newsvine, where MSNBC is pretty unhappy over several members publishing fake stories under others' names.

We are pioneering new ground here; and we're getting a lot of attention.

I understand that sometimes new members don't quite understand highlighting, and so we're here to help them. But when members consistently just copy and paste, and then when they get rewarded for it with flags or even letting it slide by, then we have a problem.

Ryan, I think that this problem goes far beyond hunting privately for names. I'd like the process of determining how we handle copy-and-paste to be more transparent. As far as not responding, when a member's work is repeatedly wrenched and/or commented on for being copies or filched photos, then the problem is "out there" and when it gets ignored, that's another problem. I've discussed this particular problem before with both you and another staffer, months ago. I'm sure you're so busy that it's slipped your mind.

Rather than going into email with Swan, why not address an over-riding concern that many here have expressed over and over and over and over again? NP members who care about this site and invest a lot of time, talent, and energy don't want to see just copy-and-paste, published as though it were original work, on NP.

Nor do many of us want to see such submissions winding up getting GS flags and high rankings on the front page. When that happens, it makes those who actually work on original material feel and look pretty dumb--why bother if you can just take someone else's work from somewhere? This morning I think 3, and definitely 2, of the "top" stories were just copy and paste work.

We can fix this problem, together. But let's do it in the open, together.

It's actually pretty easy to figure out if something is original or not, but that's another topic.

PEP

at 11:04 on March 11th, 2008

And another note: I think that private email should be just that, private. So I don't think that asking Swan or anyone to divulge private conversations will do anything positive.

We have a good community here; let's discuss things in public and figure out a way to move past this repeated, continual problem, which reaches well beyond one contributor.

Right now, NP is lucky--it has a cadre of dedicated members who actually care. We've lost some excellent members over issues like this, and I don't want to see that keep happening.

Look at what AlvarezGallaso contributed to my Spitzer story--that's great teamwork. (And I've told him he should do his own story, too.) Contributors here have built good teams before, only to see problems like this sour the experience.

I won't share the contents of private email to me with anyone; and I would expect that others hold to the same standards.

PEP

at 11:24 on March 11th, 2008

On another note, I hope we can, in transparency, continue to build relationships and community. To that end, I've started a new Forum topic and thread. I hope that others will now and then add praise for NP members who have done especially good things.

Here it is.

ryan

at 12:20 on March 11th, 2008

I understand and appreciate your concerns. It is this level of passion and commitment to NowPublic which makes it worthwhile and great.

Let me clarify, I'm not asking Swan to divulge private emails; Swan mentioned specific staff members making a specific statement and I want to know who she is talking about so we can deal with it from a managerial perspective.

By design NowPublic is organic in nature. We don't control what goes on the front page, although we do try and manage it. It is our the editorial team policy not to good stuff material which is simply 'copy and paste' but sometimes an odd good stuff here and there slips through. We do what we can with the resources given us, both technologically and managerially. When a contributor regularly 'cuts and pastes' we deal with it in the context of that individual.

Swan

at 13:31 on March 11th, 2008

Hello Ryan,

I do appreciate the hard work that you and the staff put into Now Public. I know it can't be easy.

Having said that, perhaps it's time to hire someone else to your staff, to check the stories that come in, for plagiarism.

Last week, (damn! I meant to bring it to you!) I read an independent blog article - linked to an Associated Content article. The comments in there included (paraphrased):

"Any serious journalist online or otherwise wouldn't throw their lot in with Now Public - they seem happy to accept plagiarised work."

"I used to work for Now Public as a wrangler but I felt stupid writing articles when everyone else was just cutting and pasting."

"They'll never change - it's already too far gone."

It made my blood boil and I had the article and a note to you all ready to go, when my browser burped and closed down, for no rhyme or reason that I could determine - I couldn't identify which site it was either from my extensive browser history. I'm often doing three or four things at a time and have something like 30-40 tabs open at a time in Flock.

The point is; NP is getting a bad reputation in news media and it will only get worse if it's allowed to continue.

I've mentioned this before, but Associated Content check each and every story before allowing it to be published which gives them crediblity in the eyes of the public. I understand that news is time sensitive and needs to get out that quickly - but at what cost?

There are many reporters of course that don't need "watching for plagiarism", such as Barry Artiste, PEP, NP staff, Jarrett Martineau, Ireland Pod Cast, Dave Keating, Yepokay, Politisite, Korzac, Edmund Jenks, Vinny, Mike Tippett, Azer, myself and I'm sure many others (whom I don't know) who have already proven themselves.

I think NP is at a crossroads here and needs to make some serious decisions about it's policies. A copy of those policies should be sent to every contributor (mass mailing) instead of relying upon people to visit a particular page where they are outlined.

I'll bet most people on NP, have never even gone to the appropriate page to find out the policies for themselves.

I don't know what else to suggest - sometimes the entire topic of plagiarism on NP just seems kind of hopeless.
~ Swan

PEP

at 08:06 on March 12th, 2008

Swan, yeeeeeee-OUCH! If you find that link again, please share it.

Public comments like that make it clear what choppy waters we sail. We've got to support each other, educate, and make sure that we grow past these problems.

Swan

at 11:07 on March 12th, 2008

Hello Pep,

Too true. I looked for that link late last night and again this morning - I just can't believe that I can't find it again! The thing was that I came across the blog by pure mistake, researching something else.

That's happened to me before, when I'm typing up an article with the Highlight tool - if the browser burps, I lose everything!

I will keep looking though - I think it was an important article for Now Public to see.
~ Swan

PEP

at 08:13 on March 12th, 2008

Hi Ryan, thanks for your time and comment.

Consistency on the part of staff would, I think, go far in handling these situations. And maybe more transparency in how the front page is "managed."

Someone once said that people may forget what you say and do, but they will never forget how you made them feel. Members' passions and loyalty are, I agree with you, important. Standards consistently applied, and transparency, build a solid platform of trust, and signals respect for contributors.

We're so lucky to have this chance to work together from around the world!