CBS Plagiarist Producer Was Slated to Teach Online Writing Course

Yesterday I noted that the New York Sun reported Melissa McNamara to be the producer CBS fired for plagiarizing the Wall Street Journal in a script she wrote for Katie Couric's April 4 "Notebook" vlog. For its part, CBS News refused to publicly release the name of the fired producer. As of publication of this blog post, CBS's ombudsblog "Public Eye" has not addressed the Sun's reporting. Now there's another development in the story.

Yesterday, the New York Observer reported that McNamara was slated to teach journalism courses offered by Media Bistro.

I checked the course Web site today and it notes that the course has been postponed with a new start date to be announced. These development have not been covered by CBS's "Public Eye" blog.

Yet here's how "Public Eye" envisions its mission within CBS News and as a service to CBSNews.com readers:

The blog about news coverage and controversies, Public Eye tries to make CBS News more transparent and accountable to readers and viewers. Public Eye is where CBS News argues with itself and with you on the other side of the screen. So join the fray.

Of course Montopoli appears to have given up the fight with the execs in his network:

The April 4 Notebook has now been removed from the site. Mike Sims, director of News and Operations for CBSNews.com, declined to comment about the specifics of the matter. "The Editor's Note speaks for itself," said Sims.