March 10, 2004
MACON HEADLINES
Already fired once for plagiarism, Khalil Abdullah is fired again:
A smaller-scale version of the Jayson Blair tale has hit a Georgia newspaper.
The Macon Telegraph fired reporter Khalil Abdullah for copying parts of news stories from other publications, the newspaper said.
Abdullah, 31, was already on his second chance. He was fired from The Fort Worth (Texas) Star-Telegram for similar actions several years ago, but Macon editors thought he had learned his lesson, according to the Telegraph.
Serial copier Abdullah seems accepting of his fate:
"I don't think that I'll ever try to work in newspapers again," he said. "I've always enjoyed writing, but at this time I don't see myself working in newspapers."
If he’d really enjoyed writing, as opposed to stealing, he wouldn’t have been fired.
Posted by Tim Blair at March 10, 2004 02:58 AMI wonder which part of writing he enjoys more, the cutting or the pasting?
Posted by: Jim Treacher at March 10, 2004 at 03:03 AMcite, cite, cite. Then it's called research. ;->=
Posted by: JorgXMcKie at March 10, 2004 at 05:54 AMIronic. He covered education. Academia is notorious for plagiarism. And stating the obvious:
Bob Steele, a senior faculty member at the Poynter Institute who studies ethics, says a rise in such incidents (finding plagiarism) could be partly due to the Internet, which allows reporters easier access to other journalists' work.
Thanks, Bob, like we need an academic specialising in ethics to tell us there's a google.
Posted by: ilibcc at March 10, 2004 at 10:45 AMIronic. He covered education. Academia is notorious for plagarism.
Posted by: K. Abdullah at March 10, 2004 at 10:59 AMThe Australian could hire him as an understudy Phatty. "Phillip Adams is off on ABC junket this week. Abdullah will regurgitate from the New York Review of Books in his place."
Posted by: superboot at March 10, 2004 at 11:15 AMAbdullah has given up his post as president of the Middle Georgia Association of Black Journalists.
Yes, word processing and the internet make it easier to cut and paste. Hiring people for racial quotoa reasons has also got something to do with it.