Archive for the ‘Writing’ Category
Writer Fareed Zakaria Suspended from Time and CNN for Plagiarism
On August 10, 2012 — two days ago, to be exact — Fareed Zakaria, a writer for Time magazine and a host at CNN, was suspended for plagiarism. Something like this happens only rarely to top-level, nationally-known pundits, which is why I wanted to see what the fallout would be before I wrote about it.
Here’s what happened. Zakaria wrote a column on gun control for Time that used a number of passages from a similar article by Jill Lepore that appeared in the April edition of the New Yorker. Here’s a copy of what Lepore wrote back then:
“As Adam Winkler, a constitutional-law scholar at U.C.L.A., demonstrates in a remarkably nuanced new book, ‘Gunfight: The Battle Over the Right to Bear Arms in America,’ firearms have been regulated in the United States from the start. Laws banning the carrying of concealed weapons were passed in Kentucky and Louisiana in 1813, and other states soon followed: Indiana (1820), Tennessee and Virginia (1838), Alabama (1839), and Ohio (1859). Similar laws were passed in Texas, Florida, and Oklahoma. As the governor of Texas explained in 1893, the ‘mission of the concealed deadly weapon is murder. To check it is the duty of every self-respecting, law-abiding man.’”
Now, see Zakaria’s version of the same thing from his recent column in Time magazine:
“Adam Winkler, a professor of constitutional law at UCLA, documents the actual history in Gunfight: The Battle over the Right to Bear Arms in America. “Guns were regulated in the U.S. from the earliest years of the Republic. Laws that banned the carrying of concealed weapons were passed in Kentucky and Louisiana in 1813. Other states soon followed: Indiana in 1820, Tennessee and Virginia in 1838, Alabama in 1839 and Ohio in 1859. Similar laws were passed in Texas, Florida and Oklahoma. As the governor of Texas (Texas!) explained in 1893, the ‘mission of the concealed deadly weapon is murder. To check it is the duty of every self-respecting, law-abiding man.’”
As you see, there’s little difference.
What’s worse, there’s no excuse for this — none whatsoever — because Zakaria did have other options than to simply lift a passage from Lepore’s piece without proper attribution.
The first and easiest thing Zakaria could’ve done is this — give Lepore her due. Say, “Recently, in the New Yorker, Jill Lepore wrote an excellent article on gun control. As I cannot improve upon her words, here’s what she said back in April:” and go on from there.
But Zakaria had a second option available as well if Time wouldn’t go for that. He could have either used a different source, or if he really liked Adam Winkler’s book, he could’ve interviewed Winkler directly, thus getting different words but getting at the same thing. This would not have been plagiarism because Winkler, as an author, is allowed to cite his own words whenever he feels like it. And if Winkler wanted to point out that Lepore had written an article back in April that was really good, Zakaria could’ve mentioned that without using any of Lepore’s words, too.
And do you know what else shocked me? This isn’t even the first time Zakaria has been accused of plagiarism. Because as an article by Jeffrey Goldberg in The Atlantic back in 2009 points out, Zakaria lifted some of his words, too!
So it appears that Zakaria has been lifting quotes from other people and not giving proper attribution for years. However, this time, he lifted a whole paragraph, which is why he got caught.
So what did Zakaria do after he got caught? He apologized, which is here:
Media reporters have pointed out that paragraphs in my Time column this week bear close similarities to paragraphs in Jill Lepore’s essay in the April 23 issue of The New Yorker. They are right. I made a terrible mistake. It is a serious lapse and one that is entirely my fault. I apologize unreservedly to her, to my editors at Time, and to my readers.
The problem with the apology is, it’s too little, too late. Zakaria knows better than this. Writers, reporters, journalists, and even hosts — like he has been on CNN for years — know that the only thing we have going for us, ultimately, is our bare word that we’ll tell the truth as we know it. Any writer worth his or her salt knows that. And we know that if we plagiarise, our credibility is completely and utterly blown. Forever!
And as I said before, Zakaria had other options. He did not have to do this. He should not have done this. And he deservedly got suspended for doing it anyway.
What’s truly sad and shocking about all of this is that Zakaria still has the potential to go back to work, when so many other writers who would never have done what Zakaria just did either aren’t working at all, or are working far below their capacities. No other writer I know would catch a break like this, yet it appears Zakaria just might due to his celebrity status.
And that’s wrong — so wrong that I do not have the words to explain just how wrong it is.
Look. Writers write. But we don’t crib from other writers intentionally, then refuse to give proper attribution. Because it’s ethically utterly wrong, and we know this, so we just don’t do it. Which is why Zakaria should not have done this, period.
So what comes next for Fareed Zakaria? My guess is that he’s going to have far fewer speaking engagements, he’ll be closely monitored at CNN, and if Time allows him to write any more articles, they will be extensively fact-checked so that no repeat performance is possible.
That’s better than what he deserves. Because after doing something like this, he really should be fired, celebrity or no. Because he’s proved he has no honor.
July 2012 Writing Update
It’s been a while, so it’s time for a periodic writing update (July 2012 edition). I decided to write this after being asked by more than a few people, “Hey, Barb! Isn’t this blog supposed to be just as much about your writing as it is about baseball updates?”
Well, yes, it is. But I haven’t had much to report lately. I’ve been submitting stories and none of them have been accepted — such is the writer’s lot — and while one of my poems was held until the very last minute at one rather good poetry market (I won’t say which), it ended up getting bounced out, too.
Other than that, I’ve been working hard on getting a story together for the UNIDENTIFIED FUNNY OBJECTS anthology as my main strength is writing funny urban fantasy. (If you’ve been following this blog for any length of time and have paid attention to any of these writing updates, you probably know this already.) But the story’s not ready to go; all I can say is that it’s in process, and that if you wish to submit a story to this anthology, follow the directions at the above link — you have until August 31, 2012, to get a story in of your own.
I have hesitated to even discuss my attempt to get a story into this anthology, because I’ve been somewhat afraid to jinx any chance my story might have down the line. Nevertheless, there’s still room in this anthology and I’m going to take my shot. Those of you who can write funny stories, or at least wish to give it a shot, should do the same.
Aside from that, I’m not giving up on any of my novels nor any of Michael’s novels. But none of them are going like gangbusters at this time, either — they’re just . . . there, like nagging guests that won’t quite tell me whatever important news it is that they have because they’d rather I guess. (And I don’t know about any other writers, but I hate guessing.)
The only thought I have regarding my recalcitrant novels is this: it’s been very hot and humid in Wisconsin, which has sapped my energy and strength. I haven’t been able to review anything since last week (though I hope to review at least one book over the weekend); I haven’t been sleeping well, either; I haven’t wanted to eat. And all of that can’t help but get in the way of my creativity as, last I checked, I’m still a human being. (I point this out mostly because some people seem to believe, perhaps with an excess of credulity, that science fiction and fantasy writers might not be precisely human.)
So that’s about it: I’m surviving the heat, continuing to write and edit, and I’m also thinking about what sort of story it is that might get through at the UFO anthology (listed above). And as always, if something changes/improves, I’ll be glad to keep you posted.
Quick Note
Folks, I’d hoped to review Rosemary Edghill’s VENGEANCE OF MASKS at Shiny Book Review this evening — in fact, I’d planned on reviewing it all week.
However, I’m feeling very poorly this evening for the second night in a row. (I think it has something to do with the heat and my asthma not mixing.) Because of that, I’m not able to do much — even writing a short blog about Ben Sheets’s superlative start for the Atlanta Braves today was nearly too much. And writing a quick, fact-based blog like that one is much easier to write than a book review any day of the week.
That’s why I’ve decided that I’m going to take a break for the rest of this weekend in order to come back stronger on Monday. Because of that, the review for VENGEANCE OF MASKS will be rescheduled for this upcoming week at SBR, with all apologies to Ms. Edghill and to anyone else who may have been awaiting my review.
While you’re waiting for that review, I’d like to suggest something. Go buy anything Rosemary Edghill currently has available, regardless of genre. (These books include DEAD RECKONING, VENGEANCE OF MASKS, the Bast mysteries included in BELL, BOOK, AND MURDER, and THE WARSLAYER — the latter should be available from Baen Books directly as an e-book.) She writes extremely well, always has great craftsmanship, and her storytelling ability is without peer. So meander on over to Amazon, or BN.com, or better yet to her page at Lulu (where the information for VENGEANCE OF MASKS resides), and get yourself one of her books, pronto.
While you do that, I’ll do my best to recover my energy so I can do justice to her extremely interesting and thought-provoking book, VENGEANCE OF MASKS (genre: dark fantasy/urban fantasy hybrid).
Have a great weekend, folks. See you back here on Monday.
July 2012 Odds and Ends
I’ve had a number of comments recently about various things, but none of them have reached the level of a full blog post. So here goes with the latest edition of Odds and Ends.
First, I’m taking the summer off from watching television. This is the main reason I haven’t written about the fourth season of “Drop Dead Diva,” despite all the hits I’ve had on my review of the season three finale. I do know that Fred the angel is off the show and there’s a new angel there instead — an impossibly gorgeous male who, sight unseen, bothers me. But that’s the only thing I’ve really gathered, aside from the fact that Kim Kardashian seems to have a recurring role this season.
Second, the Wisconsin GOP has, quite predictably, slammed the District 21 state Senate election, all because Democrat John Lehman won over R Van Wanggaard. Rep. Robin Vos (R-Rochester) has led a number of prominent Rs in proclaiming that the Racine elections had “numerous errors” and that supposedly, Racine County must get its act together before the November elections — all because we had the temerity to throw out our one-year Senator when the rest of the state held the course.
I have no problem with former Senator Wanggaard saying “I shall return!” as if he’s a modern-day incarnation of General Douglas MacArthur, because he’s a politician and that’s what politicians of either party tend to say. (Maybe not quite so stridently as Wanggaard. But then again, as the only R to go down on June 5, 2012, I suppose he must feel terrible.) Nor am I upset with Wanggaard for asking for a recount, pointing out various issues he and his staff have been alerted to, etc. — he’s a politician, so he has to say those things. And considering he lost by less than 2% of the vote, I suppose that’s his right.
My problem remains with the Wisconsin GOP as a whole; they didn’t slam Waukesha County in 2011 when there were massive problems there — problems that make the City and County of Racine’s issues look extremely small in comparison — because those problems benefitted them.
So, if an election goes the Rs way, even if there are terrible and systemic problems with a County Clerk like Waukesha’s Kathy Nickolaus, the Rs are OK with it. But if the election goes the way of the Ds, the Rs aren’t standing for it, even though whatever problems Racine had were due to an overwhelmingly high turnout (the highest on record for any election, including Presidential elections), nothing more. That’s why the WI GOP’s stance regarding Racine County’s recall election smacks of sour grapes as well as political expediency; I remain unimpressed.
Third, what on Earth does the United States House of Representatives, led by Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner, think they’re doing taking vote after vote to repeal Obama’s national health care plan? (Especially as they know, just as the rest of us do, that the US Senate will never go along with them.) Here we are in a jobless recovery; the economy, overall, is terrible. We need jobs, we need more economic development, and we need it right now. Yet they’d rather waste our time, and our taxpayer dollars, by taking these unnecessary votes. This is political grandstanding and it should not be tolerated. Period!
Fourth, are the Milwaukee Brewers going to get any better this year? And will Zack Greinke stay a part of the team? Stay tuned.
Fifth, and finally, the summer is a bad time for me. It’s not just my asthma, or other associated summertime health woes, which have been exacerbated as we’re having one of the hottest, driest summers on record in SE Wisconsin. It’s that I have a number of important dates on the calendar that I observe — my wedding anniversary. My late husband’s birthday (even though he didn’t observe it). Etc. — and the fact that I must observe them alone, always alone, is a trial.
Look. I despise the fact that I’m a widow. (Very few people will come right out and say this, but I will.) If I had the power, my husband would be alive right now and I’d not be typing out these words. But I’m human, mortal, fallible, all that, and I don’t have that power.
What I do every day is to try to find some meaning, some purpose, in whatever remains of my life. I continue to write (as you see). I continue to edit. I play my instruments. I compose music when I have the time, energy, and ideas. I talk with my friends, as I’m able . . . all the things I have to do in order to continue to stay alive in any sense.
But of course it’s difficult to be without the love of my life. I’d be lying if I said anything else.
And that difficulty is made much worse because the person who understood me best since that time is also dead — my good friend Jeff, whom I’ve discussed many times on this blog. That I haven’t been able, as of yet, to go to Colorado and make any peace whatsoever with his passing has assuredly not helped.
I know it doesn’t matter — would never matter — to Jeff where I mourn. But it would help me to go there and visit the places he told me about. Which is why at some point I will go there; it’s just a matter of when. Let us hope that down the line, I will find enough work at a good rate of remuneration, so I can finally take that trip.
Hot Weather Makes Writing More Difficult . . .
. . . and other truisms.
No, I’m not just being facetious. (Though you can take it that way if you really want to, as I obviously can’t stop you.) The hot weather aggravates my asthma; worse yet, the hot, humid weather we’ve been facing in Southeastern Wisconsin over the past several days tends to make my asthma act up worse than just about anything else.
And if you can’t breathe overly well, you can’t concentrate well enough to write anything. (Not blog posts. Not poetry. Certainly not fictional stories, which take more effort and thought.)
That said, the weather should cool off soon. (I’m praying for this.) Which will allow me to do more than take my inhaler, lay down where the fans are (as no air conditioner can possibly keep up, having to be used every hour of every day for several days in a row), and try to pretend that I feel up to doing anything at all.
So if you’re looking for witty observations about life, the universe, and everything, forget that — at least for a few days. But I’ll try to post about things that interest me (such as Ken Kratz’s hearing, today’s “other” blog post) while doing my best to draw a bit more air into my overtired lungs.
Obvious Takes, Pt. 1: Most Blogs are Opinions
Folks, I never thought I’d have to write these words, but here they are: most blogs, believe it or not, are opinions.
This is such an obvious thing to talk about, but apparently there are people out there who don’t realize this simple fact. For example, if you blog specifically about sports, most of what you’re talking about are your opinions about what’s going on in the world of sports. Ditto for politics (except double that, and then some), current events, and just about everything else.
Yet some people are concerned that the quality of writing on the Internet is so low that it’s leading people to forget this. Take economist Graeme Maxton, for example. In his recent book THE END OF PROGRESS: How Modern Economics Has Failed Us, Maxton said on p. 76:
It is not just that much of the information on the Internet is of dubious provenance, it is that much of what is posted as “fact” is actually opinion.
Maxton also goes on to say on p. 77 that:
The Internet is a particular problem. As well as offering a cozy home for factual mistakes or a platform for those with ill-thought-out opinions, there is the diversion it provides. Studies’ show that people who read text that is scattered with hyperlinks understand less than those who read the old-fashioned printed word.
Note that Maxton does not directly reference these studies, as there is no endnote available. He also does not discuss anything specific regarding any actual studies that have been done in this paragraph, though in the next paragraph down he references a book by Nicholas Carr called THE SHALLOWS: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains that discusses the problem of hyperlinks and Web pages.
And, if you read the above-referenced paragraph very carefully, you’ll note that Maxton doesn’t point out the excellent, fact-based and fact-checked blogs that do exist on the Internet; he instead seems to paint all blogs and everything on the ‘net with a broad brush. While it’s possible Maxton was making the case that fact-based research should not begin and end on the Web due to these limitations (a completely inoffensive statement), he cheapened his argument when he didn’t admit that at least some good, hard-hitting, factually-based articles have been posted on the Web — and that some of these hard-hitting, factually-based articles have certainly been posted on blogs.
So these words by Maxton, while to a certain extent truthful, are also a way for Maxton to frame the narrative. In this case, Maxton’s narrative is simple: “The Internet is creating a bunch of morons who can’t think for themselves. Because of that, people who read blogs on the Internet may not realize they’re actually reading opinions, rather than facts. We must fix this!”
Yet that narrative, while it does contain truth, is also an opinion, is it not? (And in a hard-bound book, no less. For shame!)
That said, Maxton’s words remain prescient because there unfortunately are people out there who will read just about anything, then parrot it back without much further thought. And at least some of those will send material “viral” that may not deserve to be read by many people — or at least may not deserve to be thought of as factual rather than the opinions most blogs truly are (this blog included).
Mind you, most people who read blogs do seem to understand the difference between fact-based commentary (which can and usually does offer an opinion) and opinions.
But just in case you’re one of the people who haven’t figured that out as of yet, consider this lesson #1 in the importance of being overly obvious. Because when it comes right down to it, most blogs are opinions, folks. And it shouldn’t take an economist like Graeme Maxton to tell you so, either.
For Those New to the Elfyverse . . . .
Yesterday (June 6, 2012, to be exact), this all-purpose blog that deals with writing, the universe, and everything picked up 1,013 hits. Most of this was due to the Wisconsin recall elections, part of it was due to my analysis of last year’s “Drop Dead Diva” season finale, and some of it was for other reasons entirely.
For whatever reason you came here, welcome. I hope you’ll pull up a chair and stay a while — or at least come back now and again to check up on what’s going on.
Now, you might be asking yourself, “What is the Elfyverse, exactly?” (Other than the original name of my blog, that is.) It’s the multiple universes my favorite character, Bruno (the three-foot tall Elfy) Harrison-Johnson must navigate if he’s to live in peace, harmony, and contentment with the love of his life, Sarah — who is human, a bit taller than he is, and has different cultural beliefs and expectations. The Elfyverse is a fun place with a great deal of mystery and intrigue; many stories can be placed there, so many that I’ve got a prequel and a sequel going at the same time to ELFY (my completed novel, which is still looking for a good home). And, of course, I’ve got all sorts of other stories set in different places — some literary, some romance, some fantasy and/or science fiction, but most of them combine genres in a way that’s probably easier to read than it is to describe. (Yes, even for me.)
As you probably have figured out, I’m a freelance writer, freelance editor, a musician, and I also compose music. I’ve edited non-fiction books of a medical nature, non-fiction general purpose books, some science fiction, some fantasy, and some romance. (References available upon request.) I’m serious about what I do; though I haven’t made a ton of money at it, I’m a very good editor, I’m a very good writer, and one of these days I do expect to break out of the pack. (Mostly because I will keep trying until that wall breaks down, come Hell or high water.)
If you stick around my blog, you’ll notice that I review a whole lot of books at Shiny Book Review (SBR). These books run the gamut, too (mostly because I dislike being bored, partly because I enjoy learning new things); be sure to stop on by SBR at http://shinybookreview.wordpress.com and take a gander at what’s available over there.
And I still review books at Amazon, too, for whatever that’s worth.
Other than that — I’m a big baseball fan (the Milwaukee Brewers are my team, though the Mets’ Vinny Rottino is my favorite player), I follow NFL football and NBA basketball. I’m a political junkie. And I comment on publishing — a lot — as you might expect considering my chosen profession. Or on anything else I please, mostly because I see life as various attempts to “frame the narrative,” and sometimes, those attempts fail. (Miserably.)
So if you’re expecting this blog to be “all Wisconsin politics, all the time,” you’re bound to be disappointed — but if you’re expecting good writing on a wide variety of subjects, I hope you’ll be pleased.
Thanks for stopping by!
Barb Caffrey's Blog 