It wasn’t just Margaret Wente’s apparent failure to properly attribute a 2009 column that captivated journalists over the last week, but also The Globe and Mail’s response and the role that the blogosphere and social media played. Eric Mark Do and Belinda Alzner compiled the coverage of the story as it has progressed, the reaction it garnered online and the commentary that's been provided by journalists. Most recent update: Oct. 3, 2012
It wasn’t just Margaret Wente’s apparent failure to properly attribute a 2009 column that captivated journalists over the last week, but also The Globe and Mail’s response and the role that the blogosphere and social media played. Eric Mark Do and Belinda Alzner compiled the coverage of the story as it has progressed, the reaction it garnered online and the commentary that's been provided by journalists.
Margaret Wente Plagiarism Controversy Timeline
This Storify details the events that unfolded following a comparison of an article written in 2009 by Globe and Mail columnist Margarete Wente. The media outcry was almost immediate, but the Globe and Mail’s response was not. Here’s what happened.
Storified by J-Source · Wed, Sep 26 2012 10:31:05
J-Source has compiled the coverage of the story as it has progressed, the reaction it garnered online and the commentary that’s been provided by mainstream organizations in the aftermath of the allegations.
Here’s what happened.
Tuesday, Sept 18:
A post appears on Media Culpa, a blog run by University of Ottawa professor Carol Wainio, showing side-by-side comparisons of her article Enviro-romanticism is hurting Africa to several other writings, including a 2008 column by The Ottawa Citizen’s Dan Gardner. Wainio points out similarities to these writings throughout Wente’s column.
Wednesday, Sept. 19:
The Media Culpa post picked up steam on social media Wednesday evening. By that time, the Globe and Mail’s silence on the matter is met with criticism.
Thursday, Sept. 20:
On Thursday, J-Source reported that Media Culpa had raised the concerns. We were told by The Globe that they were looking into the matter and could not comment at the time.
Friday, Sept. 21:
On Friday, at which point no mainstream media organizations had reported on the allegations, Sabrina Maddeaux of the Toronto Standard argues that Canadian media outlets have stayed silent on the Wente situation because, “who in their right mind is going to publicly question Wente and the Globe and Mail when, for all they know, their publication could be guilty of just the same sort of negligence?”
“Editor’s Note: This column contains views and statements by Professor Robert Paarlberg which are paraphrased and not always clearly identified.”
“If what we see in that article (and others) by Ms. Wente represents acceptable practice in the eyes of editors, the journalism community, and the public, so be it,” Wainio writes. “Because if it’s acceptable for the country’s premier newspaper – which, in my opinion, should set an example – then it is acceptable for everyone.”
Sunday, Sept. 23:
Macleans.ca was one of the first mainstream media organizations to run an article on the Wente affair.
On Sunday, Colby Cosh questioned the response by and the role of the public editor at the Globe and Mail. “It is a frantically defensive performance which appears to establish that the Globe‘s official philosophy on plagiarism is that it requires no more than the equivalent of a Post-It slapped onto the offending material after the fact,” he writes.
“Can it be that the whole point (of Stead’s role) is to have the appearance of accountability without the actual possibility of it?”
“This is a shockingly inadequate response, one that I believe has irreparably compromised the integrity of the Globe and Mail’s new public editor, and also tarnished the reputation of the newspaper itself.”
Monday, Sept. 24:
The next day, Macleans published another article on the matter, in which Jesse Brown categorizes Wente with Jonah Lehrer and Fareed Zakaria — both of whom were outed as plagiarists this year. It also examines plagiarism and plagiarism detection in the digital age.
1) The Globe‘s editor-in-chief John Stackhouse issued a memo to staff regarding the Wente affair.
2) Wente’s response column, which appeared in Tuesday’s paper, was published online.
3) The Globe‘s media reporter Steve Ladurantaye reports on the story, marking the first instance that a mainstream media organization covered the allegations as a news story.
As explained when Stead was appointed to the position:
Tuesday, Sept. 25:
Reporters weigh in on Wente’s defence column.
She also explains her use of the term “anonymous blogger” in her initial response.
“Editor’s Note: This column contains views and statements by Professor Robert Paarlberg which are paraphrased and not always clearly identified. Other sources including an Ottawa Citizen columnist were also paraphrased and their work not attributed.”
“The point is this — in the mass of information that we process each day, it is almost a safe bet that at some point something I read, or was told, or had gleaned on Twitter after midnight one night would somehow pop up some day as an original thought among the approximately 2,300 words I write each week.
“If it does, I will be called on it.
[node:ad]
“That is the beauty of social media.”
Wednesday, Sept. 26:
J-Source Ethics editor Romayne Smith Fullerton appeared on CBC Radio One’s The Current with J-Source founding editor, Ryerson School of Journalism chair and CAJ Ethics Advisory Committee chair Ivor Shapiro to talk about the Wente case, media ethics and the role of social media in this story.
This story was last updated Oct. 3, 2012.
