On the heels of mine from just a few hours ago, where the AP and ABC had to admit that one of their "news consultants" had lied his way through the MSM for several years, the HuffPost has had to pull a piece from one of their contributors. Turns out it was nearly a word for word theft of an article by The New Republic's James Kirchick.
Several months ago, I published an essay in Azure, the quarterly journal of Israel's Shalem Center, about South Africa's troubling foreign policies. You can read it here.
On Monday, a South African blogger with whom I regularly correspond informed me that an article published September 6 on The Huffington Post read almost exactly like my piece, only shorter. You can read that article, by a Norwegian journalist and former United Nations employee named Henning Andrè Søgaard, here. While my original essay was more than four thousand words and Søgaard's was op-ed length, nearly every sentence in "his" article was directly lifted from mine. Noah Pollak, an editor of Azure, shows just two of many examples. If for whatever reason you remain unconvinced, read the concluding paragraphs of both pieces.
I informed the Huffington Post of this news on Monday, but it was not until Wednesday afternoon (after Pollak disclosed the incident on The Corner) that the piece was removed from their website. In it's place reads a fatuous message:
Editor's note: We have chosen to take down Henning Andrè Søgaard's piece because of editorial similarities to a previously published work. We are awaiting a response from Mr. Søgaard who wishes to defend the piece.
"Editorial similarities" is a wonderfully creative euphemism for "plagiarism," almost as vacuous a literary construction as "Fake but accurate." There is no worse offense in the journalistic profession than stealing someone else's work and those who do should be named, shamed, and driven out of the profession altogether, never to write again. Either way, it's long past time that the Huffington Post, at the very least, publicly admit that Mr. Søgaard is a journalistic thief.
Lefty on lefty crime. Boy it's just all so disheartening!
Update
The HuffPost's revenge, as the piece is pulled.
The HuffPost has seen the light as their site now reads:
Editor's note: We have chosen to remove Henning André Søgaard's piece because it contained numerous passages copied without attribution from an article written by James Kirchick that was published in Azure. Mr. Søgaard, who initially indicated a desire to defend the piece, has since failed to do so. He will no longer be allowed to blog on this site
Vindication for Mr. Kirchick! And snuggles and hearty handshakes from all on the left.
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Fri, 09/14/2007 - 09:00 ET by drillanwrWill a FULL-page ad be taken out in the NYTimes to denounce this LIAR ...!!??
I can't seem to find any
Fri, 09/14/2007 - 09:02 ET by Chidi NwachukhuI can't seem to find any articles on Newsbuster about Sean Hannity's palgiarism. I wonder why?
I'd ask you to enlighten us, Chidi, but
Fri, 09/14/2007 - 09:09 ET by RJYou're just a drive-by poster, afraid to stick around for discussions....so don't bother
Gee, thanks. I wont mention
Fri, 09/14/2007 - 09:43 ET by Chidi NwachukhuGee, thanks. I wont mention Sean Hannity's blatant rip-off(s) of Debbie Schlussel.
was it plagiarism?
Fri, 09/14/2007 - 10:04 ET by bulbasaurI notice you lightened the charge from plagiarism to "rip-off."
Good move.
Debbie is mad because Hannity referred to facts from her story on radical islam during his television show without mentioning her name.
Plagiarism is to represent someone else's work as your own.
The leftist in HuffPo represented someone else's work as his own.
Hannity never said he personally did the investigative journalism, he merely passed along Debbie's findings without attributing them specifically to her. Was it unprofessional? Maybe, but I'm not a journalist so I don't know the protocol. Was it plagiarism? Looks like a stretch to call it plagiarism.
Hey, you just used Chidi's
Fri, 09/14/2007 - 10:52 ET by Jinx McHueHey, you just used Chidi's words "Hannity," "Debbie" and "rip-off," you plagiarist!
lol
Fri, 09/14/2007 - 10:57 ET by RJNow, Chidi is gonna come after you, bulbasaur.
In other words, as long as I
Fri, 09/14/2007 - 11:43 ET by Chidi NwachukhuIn other words, as long as I don't say that i am borrowing facts, figures and statements from someone else, then I am not plagiarising? Neat!
The cached copy of the
Fri, 09/14/2007 - 10:53 ET by Jinx McHueThe cached copy of the Huff-n-Puff page caught up to them yanking it. Is there another copy of it available?
Plagarism and Rip offs
Fri, 09/14/2007 - 11:19 ET by Lame CherryI wonder why people get so upset that Hannity does what he does and Huffington does what he does as I have as a free dispenser of ideas actually grinned when it happens to me.
In letters which I write and exchange, I know of a number of times on national radio programs and blogs where things I have shared in private ended up "as the host's new outlook on a situation". I have been stunned many times, cocked my head and asked, "Is that what they just said" and then look back at it coming word for word from a correspondence.
So none of this is new and most of the time the person being stolen or quoted from without recognition does not have a Debbie prima dona blow horn to pant "look at me look at me look at me" as that is what Deb is driven in part by and why she has her own stage to perform on.
Currently I have not been stolen from a great deal as the issues I have been blessed to expose are either too cartel funding related (Yes people our dearest "conservative" stars all get money from book deals, ads and other kick backs from the very people causing the problems to America but keep mum on it all so as not to endanger their gravy train.) or the subjects I have been warning people about are like Milton Friedman said, "Too far ahead of everyone in time". I deal in a 10 year envelope now leading to events instead of the daily cycles everyone is being lead around by..........as I have concluded George Bush and the people who know what is going on are playing that far out ahead so it behooves the astute to play where they are.
Huffington though should steal more articles as it helps their foul mouthed obsessed diatribes which usually show up there. As for the "conservatives", they are like the Patriots stealing football signals.......none of them knows it is happening, because they are all doing it too.
God bless the Good as the Truth will prevail and as it is all God's Truth, God reckons things so thieves loose out and always, always His children recieve a better deal than what they had stolen from them. agtG
PS: And one of the many reasons I choose to post on Newsbusters is when ideas do come into the main then at least this site gets quoted as a source code and the editors here are interested in the Truth more than "pats on the back".
*HIC IACET ARTORIVS REX QVONDAM REXQVE FVTVRVS
have they run out of lies that now they have to steal them
Sat, 09/15/2007 - 09:23 ET by lunaticcringeradioand i thought they had a unspoken agreement between themselves that so long as they are pushing the agenda it doesn't matter who's saying it.
but i predict you'll never ever hear of that super rich super priviledged european woman ever steal a speach from jesse jackson. could you imagine hearing her stealing on of jesse jacksons rhyming rants. i'd almost pay to hear that. to hear her try and say it in her european accent with jesses "i bes edumacated" accent.
i smell a radio bit.
lunaticcringeradio