When CBS had it’s “Rathergate” scandal, using forged documents to try and smear President Bush before the 2004 elections, Dan Rather, who anchored the report, was given a mostly free pass, and was allowed to continue on until his already planned retirement, several months hence. Mary Mapes, the segment producer, was fired, while three others, were “asked to resign:” Senior Vice President Betsy West, who supervised CBS News primetime programs; 60 Minutes Wednesday Executive Producer Josh Howard; and Howard’s deputy, Senior Broadcast Producer Mary Murphy. Perhaps someone has a good reason why the three who were “asked to resign,” which is a polite way of saying, “You’re fired,” were (in theory) treated differently from Miss Mapes, but that’s CBS’ decision.
Well, now comes this story:
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Couric’s Contretemps
An entry from the CBS’s anchor’s video ‘Notebook’ shares some uncomfortable similarities with a Wall Street Journal column. How musings about a library led to some embarrassing moments—and the firing of a network producer.
By Johnnie L. Roberts, Newsweek
Updated: 10:04 p.m. ET April 10, 2007
April 10, 2007 – CBS certainly got something different than it bargained for when it stole America’s Sweetheart from the “Today†show last year. Not only has Couric failed to draw her loyal fans to her new network: “CBS Evening News with Katie Couric†remains a distant third behind NBC and ABC. Now, Couric is embroiled in an embarrassing flap with The Wall Street Journal over plagiarism, the ultimate journalistic sin.
The problems began when an April 4 installment of “Katie Couric’s Notebookâ€â€”a daily essay by the anchor that appears in video and audio form on CBS News’ Web site, among other places—was uncomfortably close to musings by Wall Street Journal columnist Jeffrey Zaslow on the fading allure of library books. Opining in his March 15 “Moving On†column headlined “Of the Places You’ll Go, is the Library Still One of Them?â€, Zaslow wrote of libraries’ appeal to kids: “It’s a last-ditch place to go if they need to find something out.†Couric likewise observed in her April 4 “Notebook,†“It’s a last ditch place to go if they need to find something out.†Amplifying his point, Zaslow wrote, “Sure, there are still library-loving children, but books aren’t necessarily the draw.†That also was Couric’s viewpoint, almost verbatim: “Sure, children still like libraries, but books aren’t the draw.†Couric, through a spokesperson, declined to comment. Seven other sections of “Katie Couric’s Notebook” closely matched the wording in Zaslow’s column.
Loathe as I am to defend Dan Rather, at least in the episode in question, he was simply the front man, the talking head for the piece. But when a segment is entitled “Katie Couric’s Notebook,” there is an implied message that, hey, Miss Couric is a real journalist, and she did this one herself. To entitle a segment “Katie Couric’s Notebook” is for the anchor to take personal responsibility for that which it contains.
Well, apparently not:
- In an interview with NEWSWEEK, a CBS spokeswoman acknowledged that the network fired the producer of “Notebook.†She declined to identify the producer. Couric apparently faces no repercussions, because she doesn’t actually write “Katie’s Couric’s Notebookâ€â€”though many of the entries are presented in the form of first-person essays, as was the controversial piece. Addressing her audience, Couric began: “Hi everyone, I still remember when I got my first library card.â€
Which tells you one thing: the pardonability of the “ultimate journalistic sin” is directly proportional to the visibility and salary of the sinners. Mary Mapes, the lowest ranking of the CBS four, was unceremoniously canned; her three superiors were allowed to resign — not that they had any choice in the matter, but, at least semantically, it doesn’t look quite as bad. Dan Rather was allowed to continue for many months, until his retirement. Now, with the same network, an unnamed segment producer is fired, but Miss Couric remains, apparently without sanction, for a segment with her name on it personally.
Now, I was never naïve enough to think that the network news anchors were really working journalists, although some of them (Dan Rather, certainly) were before they got the big job. Nor did I ever believe that the anchors wrote most of their own copy. But when you have a (purported) journalist saying, “Hi everyone, I still remember when I got my first library card,” in a segment with her name attached to it, yeah, it’s normal to think that she really did have something to do with it.
I guess that if you did think that, you’d have been wrong — at least, according to CBS News.
_________________________
Cross posted on Red State.
I made it a point to watch the CBS Evening News last night; Miss Couric was listed in the ending credits as the “Managing Editor.”
When CBS had it’s “Rathergate†scandal, using forged documents to try and smear President Bush before the 2004 elections
Of course, there was never any actual evidence the documents were forged (see technical notes on fonts, typewriters, etc) and the information in the documents corresponded exactly with what we know of Bush’s “military” record – AWOL for over a year from his National Guard assignments in Texas and Alabama. As he was AWOL for over 30 days without any evidence he intended to return to duty, he is guilty of desertion. Which is what CBS pointed out. It’s hardly a smear. Bush had lied about his military record, committed two UCMJ offenses, and was now getting called on it. Doubtless just before the 2004 election was not when he would have wanted this to come out, but when you lie and commit crimes, it’s hardly up to you to decide when the media should focus on it.
(Not like the Swift Boat Lies, which were smears: and I see the funder of those smears has been recently rewarded with an ambassadorship to Belgium. Poor Belgium.)
J wrote:
He did? Would this be yet another statement of legal fact by Jesurgislac, claiming that a crime was committed where no crime was ever charged?
I’m going to have to speak to Tony Blair; there’s obviously something very strange in the water in our mother country.
J, as usual, just makes stuff up.
J, it looks like you’ve taken the “fake, but accurate” defense that a lot of people did. Indeed, that does fall in line with your other logic, such as “never charged with any crime, but guilty” meme.
If “Of course, there was never any actual evidence the documents were forged,” why is it that an independent commission set up by CBS News found such fault with the report? You seem to have taken exactly the point of view that got Mary Mapes unemployed: that the documents were genuine if they couldn’t be proven to be forgeries, rather than the normal journalistic standard of proving them to be genuine before using them.
But, that, too, fits in with your standard of “guilty until proven innocent.”
Dana, I see you’re still trying to argue that if your buddy is shot dead and no one is prosecuted, it wasn’t murder.
rather than the normal journalistic standard of proving them to be genuine before using them.
There was no reason – and still is no reason – to suppose they were not genuine.
The document provided no new or startling information about Bush going AWOL – we already knew he hadn’t shown up for duty for over a year while he was supposed to be in the National Guard. The documents merely provided some concrete details about his commander’s reaction to Bush going AWOL.
J wrote:
If the murderer isn’t caught, it’s still murder. But when the people who leaked Mrs Wilson’s identity have confessed to doing so, and the special prosecutor set up in office specifically to prosecute such if it is actually a crime, cannot do so, it’s difficult to argue that a crime has been committed.
J, the law is very specific — and Mrs Wilson’s case simply did not fall within the requirements of the law. You may wish to believe that there was a crime committed in that, but the people who, under our system, were charged with enforcing the law, concluded otherwise.
J wrote:
Perhaps you can explain that to the four people who lost their jobs behind this. And the special investigative board for which CBS News asked certainly concluded differently than you have. I tend to think that they investigated this a bit more thoroughly than you did.
Perhaps you can explain that to the four people who lost their jobs behind this.
Actually, I think those four people are owed an explanation – from the people who accused them, without evidence, of having used forged documents as the basis for a story, and whipped up a hysteric fuss that cost those four people their jobs.
It wasn’t as if we didn’t know Bush went AWOL from the National Guard already. The documents added color and detail to a known event, no great revelation that had to be proved true or false. But from the way the wingnuts kicked the documents, claiming them to be “forgeries”, anyone would think that Bush had done sterling service, rather than deserting in time of war.
CBS News had former Pennsylvania Governor Richard Thornburg establish a committee to review the entire matter.
Of course, the journalistic standard is that the documents have to be authenticated, not that they are accepted as authentic unless proved to be forged.
Even the Democrats knew that the documents were forgeries — when DNC Chairman Terry McAuliffe tried to suggest that they were forged by the Republicans, to set up a faked story they could repudiate:
Of course, the journalistic standard is that the documents have to be authenticated, not that they are accepted as authentic unless proved to be forged.
And again – no evidence was found that proved the documents were forged.
No positive evidence, as in the apprehension of the forger? No, that didn’t happen.
But what part of:
do you find so difficult to understand? Mr Tytell (an expert selected by CBS, and then again by the committee) concluded that the documents were forgeries.
No one seriously contends that the documents were genuine, J; all you are hanging your argument on is that they were not proved to be forgeries, proved as in beyond a reasonable doubt.
The documents were not genuine, J.
The forged documents that torpedoed Peter Jennings were used because the supported his agenda. Curve fitters behave that way.
I thought that the documents were forged the first time I was a copy of them. From a standpoint of typography, they looked as fraudulent as an ‘ancient coin’ dated ’5 BC’.
I spent quite a few years in working environments where documents were produced using the latest and greatest technology. IBM had proportional spacing typewriters in the late 1950s but they would produce only one size and pitch of type. You could get typebars to create special symbols but they were a pain to use. THen came the Selectric with the spherical typing element. Some were dual pitch but they used monospace fonts. Quite a while later came the IBM Composer but that machine was never found in offices and required a bit of user training.
With word processing software and inkjet printers, some beautiful work could be done with minimal effort, However, these capabilities were available long after the last flyable F-102 went to the boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB.
An almost-clever person created a forged document to ‘prove a point’.
Yet flying the F-102 Delta Dart (often called ‘lawn dart’ for its treacherous nature) was a rather dangerous pastime, even in peacetime. Pilots trained to fly these had one mission: interception of bombers. Only one country posed such a potential threat so aircraft lost its role.
As Katie undoubtedly learned in school, when one puts one’s name on a piece of work, one is saying, “I did this work and am responsible for its content.” The fact that she presented the notebook piece in the first person underscores this point. That it was not her work, that it was in fact plagiarized, does not absolve her from responsibility, even if it was a producer who stole the text. Consequently, Katie is left with the choice of accepting guilt for the plagiarism or at least of accepting guilt for perpetrating the hoax of writing first-person notebook entries. Either way she is disqualified as an honest journalist and should be subject to the sanctions appropriate to her dishonesty. However, just as CBS fired Don Imus because of money, they likely will not fire Katie because of money. The only amusing element in this mess is to watch how CBS executives will twist logic to lend an air of moral righteousness to decisions based on financial pressures.
As Katie undoubtedly learned in school, when one puts one’s name on a piece of work, one is saying, “I did this work and am responsible for its content.†The fact that she presented the notebook piece in the first person underscores this point. Frank Jones
A book appeared over the byline of John Dean, The book was allegedly a first-hand account of activity within the White House. It was used as the basis for a prudo-documentary on Nixon.
When two former McGovern staffers wrote their views about Watergate, Dean was presented in a somewhat bad light and it appeared as if the break-in (which seemed to have no valuable political goal) was done to find out about a high-class call girl ring operated by a nutty lawyer. Dean sued and G. Gordon Liddy gave the two defendants a bit of air time and got himself named as a defendant. His words about Dean’s wife were more direct than those of Imus but the cutting insult is always the one based on truth.
Dean was obliged to admit that he did not write ‘his’ book and did not even review the galley proofs of the ghosted bit of ‘historical fiction’. His excuse was to blame his wife, who allegedly forbade her husband from taking a pen into bed (he claimed that he was ill when the proofs were brought over) for fear of soiling the sheets. No one claimed that domination was in her bag of tricks but she seems to have John Dean under control.
How many treat a ghosted book that the ‘author’ was abliged (under pain of perjury) to admit that he did not even read before publication as a source of ‘facts’?
Plagairism cost Joseph Biden his shot at the 1988 Democratic presidential nomination.
Former President Carter appears to have plagairized the maps used in his awful book Palestine: Peace or Apartheid. He said that he wasn’t the one who produced the maps for the book (which is believable; they were professionally done, and he isn’t a cartographer), essentially passing the buck for a book which was sold under his name, and for which he received payment.
[...] CBS Plagiarism BloggersVa. Tech Shooting: Couric To Blacksburg TVNewser elap(’1176747979′);Katie Couric is en route to Blacksburg, Virginia. She will anchor the CBS Evening News from Virginia Tech tonight… Russ…Va. Tech Shooting: Couric MIA; Networks Interrupt Soaps For Special Reports TVNewser elap(’1176745641′);”Where the hell is Katie Couric?,” e-mailers are wondering.Brian Williams and Charles Gibson anchored special reports on their respective networks…BlogRunner > Media This is a Network News Anchor?!: Katie’s “Hot Like Me” Ringtone, “2-Mommy” HouseholdDEBBIE Debbie Schlussel elap(’1176742183′);By Debbie Schlussel A More Magazine interview with CBS News Anchor Katie Couric leaves you wondering: Vapid teen valley-girl . . . or next female teacher most likely to have sex with her students?Couric’s lucky Imus coverage upstaged her plagiarism case JIM ROMENESKO Romenesko elap(’1176737315′);LAT Channel Island | New York Post Don’t bury the Couric & Co. plagiarism case yet, says Scott Collins, “because it underscores some of the trouble the news business is having managing new media (especially blogs and ‘vlogs’)…BlogRunner > Media NBC, CBS Drop Imus If Plagiarism Is Presenting Someone Else’s Work As Your Own… What Did Katie Couric Do?MIKE TechDirt elap(’1176734895′);There have been a number of interesting discussions from people rethinking the concept of plagiarism lately.BlogRunner > Technology Extra Couric-ular ActivityHOWARD MORTMAN Political Mavens elap(’1176712311′);Last week CBS News admitted that an episode of “Katie Couric’s Notebook” was cribbed by a since-fired producer from a column that Jeffrey Zaslow had written for the Wall Street Journal.Bland Corporate NewsPOWERPUNDIT Powerpundit elap(’1176677511′);Kaus on Couric: “It doesn’t bother me that Obama went to a mosque as a kid! I’m with the liberals who see it as a potential asset.BlogRunner > Politics BlogRunner > Barrack Obama It’s GLENN REYNOLDS Instapundit.com elap(’1176667539′);A DIRTY JOB, BUT SOMEONE’S GOT TO DO IT: Mickey Kaus defends Katie Couric: “It doesn’t bother me that Obama went to a mosque as a kid! I’m with the liberals who see it as a potential asset. It…BlogRunner > Politics BlogRunner > Barrack Obama Glenn Reynolds 3702 The VPL–flaunt it The other day I wrote tha… NORMA Collecting my Thoughts elap(’1176557100′);3702 The flaunt it The other day I wrote that Katie Couric had pretty much taken the pleasure out of watching TV, but I’ll admit to turning it on if I want to take a nap.NBC, CBS Drop Imus Wanker of the Day ATRIOS Eschaton elap(’1176495360′);Katie Couric.BlogRunner > Politics Atrios Because They’re White and Have MoneyTREE HUGGING SISTER The Coalition of the Swilling elap(’1176478633′);…don’t waste your sympathy. Or your outrage. Because they were piggish college and had rented the strippers to begin with. (At least I have a feeling Terry Moran wrote this on his own.BlogRunner > Media Why is a producer expressing Couric’s opinions on CBS’ site? JIM ROMENESKO Romenesko elap(’1176476218′);Slate CBS was justified in firing Melissa McNamara for plagiarizing WSJ’s Jeff Zaslow, says Timothy Noah…BlogRunner > Media Gossip Index – This Just In: Couric Rules the Gutter! RadarOnline elap(’1176474796′);TWO DRINK MINIMUM Couric Who ruled the Gossip Index this week? Radar tabulates, and the winner is … Katie Couric: Five mentions.BlogRunner > Media Again with the madrassa nonsense?STEVE BENEN The Carpetbagger Report elap(’1176474625′);Reason #1,684,349 why I do not watch television news. This was CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric in last night’s “Notebook” segment: “Hi, everyone. Is America ready to elect a president who grew up praying in a mosque?BlogRunner > Politics BlogRunner > Barrack Obama Steve Benen Happy Friday the 13th!DANA PICO Common Sense Political Thought elap(’1176467796′);» Archives » No matter what they say I’ve done, I ain’t never had too much fun!Why CBS News Sucks DAVID AUSTIN TX The Supreme Irony of Life… elap(’1176460560′);In general, it is safe to say that the American news media landscape is pretty bleak.However, CBS News epitomizes those values, and had embodied them in the visage of one Katie Couric.Case in point.BlogRunner > Politics BlogRunner > Media BlogRunner > Barrack Obama 7 for FridayDONSURBER Don Surber elap(’1176459269′);Seven shiny objects that drew my attention: 1. Katie Couric wrote (or someone ghosted for her): “Is America ready for a President who grew up praying in a mosque?” But wait: Obama was raised by his maternal grandparents, not his Muslim daddy.RELATED »BlogRunner > Politics BlogRunner > Barrack Obama Donsurber A note to Katie Couric and The CBS Evening NewsBOB SASSONE TV Squad elap(’1176449940′);Filed under: News, OpEd, Celebrities Katie, There’s been a lot of talk lately about the third place ratings that The CBS Evening News continues to get.Unlike Katie Couric, I write my own material! MUSE me-ander elap(’1176446413′);Recently it seems like everyone, every politician, celebrity and more are “blogging,” writing chatty little essays on their publicity sites and in the newspapers under their smiling, professionally edited headshots.For us real bloggers…CBS News fires producer for plagiarism WhatReallyHappened.com elap(’1176443804′);A CBS News producer was fired and the network apologized after a Katie Couric video essay on libraries was found to be plagiarized from The Wall Street Journal.BlogRunner > Media Couric’s “Notebook” rehashed debunked Obama rumors Media Matters for America elap(’1176431214′);In the April 12 edition of her “Notebook” video blog, CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric asked…RELATED »BlogRunner > Politics BlogRunner > Media BlogRunner > Barrack Obama Who Wrote This One For Glorified Reader Katie Couric? OLIVER WILLIS Oliver Willis: Like Kryptonite To Stupid elap(’1176425113′);She reads them like they just came in from RNC headquarters.BlogRunner > Politics BlogRunner > Media Oliver Willis CBS says Couric unaware video essay plagiarized Reuters elap(’1176415719′);- “CBS Evening News” anchor Katie Couric may vividly recall her first library card, but the network says she was unaware that her online video essay about the virtues of libraries was largely a work of plagiarism.BlogRunner > Entertainment when ghostwriters plagiarizeJIM ANDERSON decorabilia elap(’1176404400′);While we’re thinking about libraries:Katie Couric has fired Melissa McNamara for copying parts of the commentaries McNamara ghostwrote for Couric to read on-air.CBS Gets Joost, Beboed, Netvibed PETE CASHMORE Mashable! elap(’1176401912′);CBS is set to announce deals with AOL, MSN and Joost to distribute network TV shows and other content. The shows include “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation”, “The Evening News with Katie Couric”, “NCIS” and sports programming, says the WSJ.BlogRunner > Technology CBS Expands Online Distribution Pete Cashmore Olbermann Rips Anderson Defending David Sedaris Blum On Couric Careful Katie No Change At Times Co. NYT Building For Sale NBC Hearts The Environment mediabistro.com: FishBowlNY elap(’1176397407′);Olbermann: Cooper should discuss sexuality. [Towelroad via Radar] Where’s the Sedaris: Backlash? [Slate] Former Village Voice Editor: Says Couric…BlogRunner > Media Media Bubble: The Big Eye Gawker elap(’1176391189′);Bernie Goldberg: will bitch about CBS for food. [NYP] Former Voice editor David Blum names names, questions English, in the Katie Couric blog plagiarism thing. [NYS] CBS: All over the web, up in “portals.”BlogRunner > Media An agent claims to have forensic evidence and government documents that allege Daily Intelligencer – New York Magazine elap(’1176390536′);An agent claims to have forensic evidence and government documents that allege Saddam Hussein is still alive and well.Imusgate.SUSAN Random Thoughts: Unfair and Unbalanced. elap(’1176388980′);CBS decided to sack Imus no doubt because of advertisers bailing out. Moonves is a piece of shit; he proved that with the sacking of Dan Rather and the hiring of Katie Couric. He’s scoring perfectly in the asshole department.NBC, CBS Drop Imus NY Sun names fired CBS producer; why naming her is importantCRAIG SILVERMAN Regret The Error elap(’1176386991′);After many blogs (Gawker, TV Newser etc.) put out calls for the name of the CBS producer fired this week for plagiarism, David Blum has named her in a story in today’s New York Sun.BlogRunner > Media The Easter Thursday Knucklehead Festival Part Two THE FLORIDA MASOCHIST The Bullwinkle Blog elap(’1176382002′);Our second winners today are – “CBS Evening News” anchor Katie Couric may vividly recall her first library card, but the network says she was unaware that her online video essay about the virtues of libraries was largely a work of plagiarism.The Florida Masochist Katie Couric, why didn’t you use the “power of Google”?CUPCATE Shiny Shiny elap(’1176380482′);CBS anchor Katie Couric has been caught plagiarizing. In a video essay for the segment called “Katie’s Notebook” (which sounds like the title of a Lifetime movie), Katie reflected on her memories of getting her first library card. Yawn.BlogRunner > Technology So is Katie Couric going to tell Fred Thompson to just go home and die quietly? JILL Brilliant at Breakfast elap(’1176362520′);Of course not.Katie Couric Caught Plagiarizing The WSJ ACE Ace of Spades HQ elap(’1176357057′);But wait — she has a defense. She didn’t actually plagiarize, because the news items that bore her byline were falsely attributed to her! In other words, she’s not guilty of falsely claiming the writing of the WSJ as her…Ace Is America Ready For A Candidate Who Grew Up Praying In A Mosque ROB Say Anything elap(’1176355240′);Katie Couric asks the question. I guess if the media is going to make a big deal about Romney’s mormonism we may as well cover Obama’s religious history as well. Personally, I could care less where these guys pray.BlogRunner > Politics BlogRunner > Religion [Amusing] This just in: Katie Couric will read anything that comes across the teleprompter. So go f*ck yourself, San Diego Fark.com elap(’1176355140′);Reuters…Is America ready for a President who grew up pray… SSPRUIELL National Review Media Blog elap(’1176347175′);So asks Katie Couric.BlogRunner > Media CBS ‘Notebook’ entry lifted from elsewhere The Earth Times Online Newspaper elap(’1176343680′);Spokeswoman Sandy Genelius said it was common for the first-person commentaries to be developed by staffers without Couric’s involvement in the writing, The Washington Post said Wednesday. Couric participates in topic selection.BlogRunner > Entertainment CBS News Fires Producer for Plagiarism RCADE Drudge Retort elap(’1176334257′);A CBS News producer was fired and the network apologized after a Katie Couric video essay on libraries was found to be plagiarized from The Wall Street Journal.Perky Couric Pulls a RatherTERRESA MONROE-HAMILTON NoisyRoom.net elap(’1176330104′);Courtesy of Neal Boortz: There’s problems at CBS….and it seems all that is old is new again.BlogRunner > Politics Katie Couric: journalistDANA PICO Common Sense Political Thought elap(’1176327648′);When CBS had it’s “Rathergate” scandal, using forged documents to try and smear President Bush before the 2004 elections, Dan Rather, who anchored the report, was given a mostly free pass…3 in the morningDONSURBER Don Surber elap(’1176286616′);1. For $15 million a year, CBS could have signed pitcher Gil Meche and had $4 million left over for a new news set based on the baseball theme (complete with a ski lift for us Cleveland Indians fans).RELATED »Donsurber MediaCBS, Couric escape scandal over Web video CHANNEL ISLAND Los Angeles Times elap(’1176750030′);MEMO to Katie Couric: You should send flowers to Don Imus.NBC, CBS Drop Imus Couric’s Guy Quick to Switch New York Post elap(’1176634802′);KATIE Couric may want to assign a couple of her investigative reporters at the “CBS Evening News” to shadow Brooks Perlin , her new boy-toy.OPINIONPutting Words in Her Mouth ANDREW FERGUSON The Weekly Standard elap(’1176528682′);Katie Couric remembers somebody else’s first library card.BlogRunner > Politics Blast At Cbs Nuts And Wimps New York Post elap(’1176392402′);FORMER CBS News reporter Bernard Goldberg is biting the hand that once fed him in a new memoir, taking wicked shots at network CEO Les Moonves and anchor Katie Couric . In “Crazies to the Left of Me, Wimps to the Right,” from HarperCollins…CBS News Fires Producer, Revamps Procedures After Plagiarism Incident MARCUS BARAM ABC News Online elap(’1176375602′);News Network May Make Changes…After Couric Incident, CBS News to Scrutinize Its Web Content BILL CARTER The New York Times elap(’1176375602′);CBS News said it planned to install a new level of editorial oversight to its Web site since revelations that the CBS anchor Katie Couric read a plagiarized commentary on the site last week.BlogRunner > Media NYT > Computers and The Internet NYT > News and News Media NYT > Bill Carter Couric in the Eye of Plagiarism Case DAVID BLUM The New York Sun elap(’1176363002′);For $15 million a year, wouldn’t you think Katie Couric could find the time in her day to reflect on her own feelings in her Couric & Co. blog on the cbsnews.com Web site — and not on those of a Wall Street Journal reporter named Jeffrey Zaslow?RELATED »BlogRunner > Movies BlogRunner > Books Fire online: Immolating Imus, catching Couric, Gonzo goes public CNET News.com elap(’1176336240′);Blog: update With media stars it can seem the more money they make, the less they operate in the real world–sorta…NBC, CBS Drop Imus Katie Piece Plagiarized New York Post elap(’1176310802′);A CBS News producer was fired and the network apologized after a Katie Couric video essay on libraries was found to be plagiarized from The Wall Street Journal.’Katie’s Notebook’ Item Cribbed From W.S. Journal HOWARD KURTZ The Washington Post elap(’1176280802′);Katie Couric did a one-minute commentary last week on the joys of getting her first library card, but the thoughts were less than original. The piece was substantially lifted from a Wall Street Journal column.RELATED »BlogRunner > Media Howard Kurtz Voices Ace• Katie Couric Caught… elap(’1176357057′); Atrios• Wanker of the Day elap(’1176495360′); Bill Carter• After Couric Incident, CBS… elap(’1176375602′); Glenn Reynolds• It’s elap(’1176667539′);• Two of My Favorite People elap(’1176316164′);• Howard Kurtz elap(’1176292949′); Howard Kurtz• ‘Katie’s Notebook’ Item… elap(’1176280802′); » Jonah Goldberg• About “Couric’s” Plagiarism elap(’1176292543′); Mcq• Another black eye for CBS elap(’1176276075′); Oliver Willis• Who Wrote This One For… elap(’1176425113′);• Katie Couric: Brainless… elap(’1176275016′); Pete Cashmore• CBS Gets Joost, Beboed,… elap(’1176401912′);Steve Benen• Again with the madrassa… elap(’1176474625′); The Florida Masochist• The Easter Thursday… elap(’1176382002′);Tim B.• Bloggers Busted elap(’1176315610′);Donsurber• 7 for Friday elap(’1176459269′); »• 3 in the morning elap(’1176286616′); » Most Blogged’Katie’s Notebook’ Item Cribbed From W.S. JournalHoward Kurtz The Washington Post elap(’1176280802′);RELATED »Couric in the Eye of Plagiarism CaseDAVID BLUM The New York Sun elap(’1176363002′);RELATED »7 for Fridaydonsurber Don Surber elap(’1176459269′);RELATED »Katie’s New Guy New York Post elap(’1176289202′);RELATED »Couric’s ‘Notebook’ rehashed debunked Obama rumors Media Matters for America elap(’1176431214′);RELATED » blogrunner.com … e: feedback(AT)blogrunner.com … Mon Apr 16 14:52:28 2007 ET … Copyright (c) 2006 The New York Times [...]
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[...] The lovely Miss Couric is hardly immune from similar criticism, as she used plagiarized material in one of her segments, “Katie Couric’s notebook.” Naturally, it wasn’t Miss Couric who got punished (meaning: fired) for it, but one of her minions. [...]