Tim Blair

WORD FUN WITH PHILLIP THE DUCK

Is it plagiarism if you acknowledge a source while plundering enough material to compose an entire column? Maybe not, but it sure as hell is lazy, and definitely not worth paying for. Professor Bunyip -- no lazybones he -- has caught Phillip Adams rewriting an article from the New York Review of Books (for the second time).

But before you visit the Bunyip for the full story on The Australian’s untouchable rewrite robot, take this fun online quiz:

What Did Phillip Adams Write? Select A or B from each of the following nine pairs of extracts from Phil’s column and The New York Review of Books article he harvested:

1. A: The centre was managed by Jim Wilkinson, a 32-year-old Texan and protege of the brothers Bush. When last seen, Wilkinson had been speaking on behalf of Republican activists protesting against the Florida ballot recount.

B: The Coalition Media Center is managed by Jim Wilkinson, a fresh-faced, thirty-two-year-old Texan and a protégé of Bush's adviser Karen Hughes. Wilkinson made his mark during the 2000 presidential election when he spoke on behalf of GOP activists protesting the Florida ballot recount.

2. A: Jim Wilkinson was known to rebuke reporters whose copy he deemed insufficiently supportive of the war; he darkly warned one correspondent that he was on a "list" along with two other reporters at his paper.

B: Wilkinson would loudly rebuke reporters whose copy seemed insufficiently supportive of the war – and recalcitrants were warned that they were on a list.

3. A: ... in contrast to the ranks of retired generals and colonels we saw enthusing about the war on American TV.

B: ... in contrast to the retired generals and colonels we saw on American TV.

4. A: All Mintier had to do was echo Brooks points with clear approval.

B: CNN's Tom Mintier, by contrast, would faithfully recite Brooks's main points, often with signs of approval.

5. A: Al-Jazeera took us to hospital wards to show us screaming children, women in pain, men without limbs. The camera lingered on stumps, head wounds, and tubes inserted in nostrils and chests. On gurneys in hallways lay bodies bandaged, bloodied, and burned ...

B: Al-Jazeera was taking cameras into hospital wards to show screaming children, women in pain, men without limbs, bodies bandaged and bloodied on gurneys.

6. A: With a much smaller staff than the BBC, this London-based channel (partly owned by Rupert Murdoch) seemed far more nimble. One of its correspondents, Geoff Meade, became known at the media center for his sharp, if sometimes grandiloquent, questions.

B: With a much smaller staff, Sky's team was judged more nimble – with one correspondent, Jeff Meade, singled out for special praise.

7. A: CNN's international service was repackaged, bearing more resemblance to the BBC than to its domestic –- and domesticated – edition.

B: CNN International bore more resemblance to the BBC than to its domestic edition -— a difference that showed just how market-driven were the tone and content of the broadcasts.

8. A: Wilkinson, a member of the naval reserve, appeared in the same beige fatigues as the career officers working under him.

B: The Bush activist was repackaged as a member of the Naval Reserve, appearing in beige fatigues identical to the career officers working beneath him.

9. A: As Baghdad was about to fall – without the discovery of a single weapon of mass destruction – Meade asked: "Is this war going to make history by being the first to end before its cause could be found?"

B: When Baghdad was about to fall without the discovery of any weapons of mass destruction, he asked, "Is this war going to make history by being the first to end before its cause could be found?"

Answers two posts below. All hail the Bunyip!