Newsweek reports on the latest black eye for the Tiffany network, Katie Couric's plagarism scandal.
April 10, 2007 - CBS certainly got something different than it bargained for when it stole America's Sweetheart from the "Today" show last year. Not only has Couric failed to draw her loyal fans to her new network: "CBS Evening News with Katie Couric" remains a distant third behind NBC and ABC. Now, Couric is embroiled in an embarrassing flap with The Wall Street Journal over plagiarism, the ultimate journalistic sin.
The problems began when an April 4 installment of "Katie Couric's Notebook"--a daily essay by the anchor that appears in video and audio form on CBS News' Web site, among other places--was uncomfortably close to musings by Wall Street Journal columnist Jeffrey Zaslow on the fading allure of library books. Opining in his March 15 "Moving On" column headlined "Of the Places You'll Go, is the Library Still One of Them?", Zaslow wrote of libraries' appeal to kids: "It's a last-ditch place to go if they need to find something out." Couric likewise observed in her April 4 "Notebook," "It's a last ditch place to go if they need to find something out." Amplifying his point, Zaslow wrote, "Sure, there are still library-loving children, but books aren't necessarily the draw." That also was Couric's viewpoint, almost verbatim: "Sure, children still like libraries, but books aren't the draw." Couric, through a spokesperson, declined to comment. Seven other sections of "Katie Couric's Notebook" closely matched the wording in Zaslow's column.
The most interesting part of the piece is the tidbit that Katie's Couric's Notebook is neither a notebook, nor actually Katie's...
In an interview with NEWSWEEK, a CBS spokeswoman acknowledged that the network fired the producer of "Notebook." She declined to identify the producer. Couric apparently faces no repercussions, because she doesn't actually write "Katie's Couric's Notebook"--though many of the entries are presented in the form of first-person essays, as was the controversial piece. Addressing her audience, Couric began: "Hi everyone, I still remember when I got my first library card."
As the graphic capture of the piece above shows, in addition to plagarising Zaslow's WSJ piece Couric and CBS are presenting the work as Katie's own words. Couric is clearly listed as an author at the eponymously named blog and the story appears under her byline implying she wrote it. One needs look no further than the case of The New York Times' Rick Bragg afair (here and here) to see that taking credit for the work of others is a big deal.
CBS's Public Eye blog, which is supposed to give insight into the behind the scenes at CBS, doesn't seem much interested in exploring the deception (see their inital post) - leaving it to others to discover and report. They followed that up by rehasing coverage elsewhere, gently sidestepping the fraudelent nature of Couric attaching her byline to the piece in electronic print. Apparently byline integrity isn't really a big deal at CBS anymore...
Say what you will about Dan Rather and Rathergate (or Memogate), but he never shied away from the responsibility that goes with runing a story under his own byline. Clearly In all the time that has elapsed since then CBS has learned very little...
Addtional coverage at Regret the Error
Comments (24)
Clearly In all the time ... (Below threshold)1. Posted by mantis | April 11, 2007 4:16 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Clearly In all the time that has elapsed since then since that entails.
Huh?
1. Posted by mantis | April 11, 2007 4:16 PM |
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Posted on April 11, 2007 16:16
2. Posted by Dave thA | April 11, 2007 4:21 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I get someone to write my comments...
2. Posted by Dave thA | April 11, 2007 4:21 PM |
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Posted on April 11, 2007 16:21
3. Posted by Kevin | April 11, 2007 4:21 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I hit publish before completing the last line...
3. Posted by Kevin | April 11, 2007 4:21 PM |
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Posted on April 11, 2007 16:21
4. Posted by macofromoc | April 11, 2007 4:37 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Bush/Haliburton/Chenney/Isreal connection in 4...3...2....
4. Posted by macofromoc | April 11, 2007 4:37 PM |
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Posted on April 11, 2007 16:37
5. Posted by yetanotherjohn | April 11, 2007 4:38 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I could tell it was a lie...her lips were moving.
5. Posted by yetanotherjohn | April 11, 2007 4:38 PM |
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Posted on April 11, 2007 16:38
6. Posted by PeevedGuy | April 11, 2007 4:39 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I am amused by this simply because I have never taken Katie Couric seriously as a reporter and was taken aback when she was given the job of anchorperson at CBS. I first heard of KC's Notebook while listening to a CBS radio station. I guffawed at the end when she said "I'm Katie Couric and that's a page from my notebook".
While I'm thinking of it, does CBS disproportionately pimp out their "journalists" to entertainment shows, or is it just me? Case in point: Julie Chen hosting "Big Brother" and the interviews with the contestants of Survivor on their Early Show.
6. Posted by PeevedGuy | April 11, 2007 4:39 PM |
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Posted on April 11, 2007 16:39
7. Posted by nikkolai | April 11, 2007 4:53 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Truly embarrassing day for the left. First "Fitz-Fong", then Katie-Gate...
7. Posted by nikkolai | April 11, 2007 4:53 PM |
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Posted on April 11, 2007 16:53
8. Posted by Eric | April 11, 2007 5:07 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
There's a reason Europeans call them news "presenters". I don't understand how people can lend so much gravitas to a job which requires one to read a teleprompter, something most of us could have done in first grade.
8. Posted by Eric | April 11, 2007 5:07 PM |
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Posted on April 11, 2007 17:07
9. Posted by CharlieDontSurf | April 11, 2007 5:33 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
What's the matter Katie....did they give you the wrong answers again?
9. Posted by CharlieDontSurf | April 11, 2007 5:33 PM |
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Posted on April 11, 2007 17:33
10. Posted by Rob LA Ca. | April 11, 2007 5:41 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
The Democrat perpetual fraud take Double beat down today. Nifong and Couric sitting in a tree, doing what they do the best , frauds ly-ing. LOL
Down with the democrat criminal frauds.
10. Posted by Rob LA Ca. | April 11, 2007 5:41 PM |
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Posted on April 11, 2007 17:41
11. Posted by SShiell | April 11, 2007 5:47 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Makes you wonder how many other pieces she has plagerized since she started this gig.
11. Posted by SShiell | April 11, 2007 5:47 PM |
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Posted on April 11, 2007 17:47
12. Posted by Faith+1 | April 11, 2007 5:55 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
No lover of the Left here but I do think this is being overblown a bit. I mean, really, has anyone thought an anchor was anything more than an empty suit figurehead simply reading cue cards in decades? Didn't Will Ferrel make an entire movie pointing what nimrods they all are?
Mildly embarrassing for Katie sure--as it points out that she isn't any different from the other fake newspeople they've put on the air in ages.
In one sense it is showing CBS is taking steps in the right direction. They went from creating stories on bogus documents (Rathergate) to now creating stories from real documents. Granted, stolen documents from another real reporter, but at least this seem to have substance.
I hear their next move will just be broadcasting Blog pages 24/7 in a rotating fashion without anyone speaking.
12. Posted by Faith+1 | April 11, 2007 5:55 PM |
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Posted on April 11, 2007 17:55
13. Posted by Who's John Galt? | April 11, 2007 5:59 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
"Hi everyone, I still remember when I got my first library card."
Sure you can. But, can you tell us if you ever actually used it?
13. Posted by Who's John Galt? | April 11, 2007 5:59 PM |
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Posted on April 11, 2007 17:59
14. Posted by Rovin | April 11, 2007 6:53 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Just think.....a couple more false reports, she can write a book about global warming, the 9/11 conspiracy and bingo.....she's presidential material.
14. Posted by Rovin | April 11, 2007 6:53 PM |
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Posted on April 11, 2007 18:53
15. Posted by Publicus | April 11, 2007 7:21 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Who's less interesting to hear about, Katie Couric or Don Imus?!
(yawm.)
15. Posted by Publicus | April 11, 2007 7:21 PM |
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Posted on April 11, 2007 19:21
16. Posted by Scrapiron | April 11, 2007 7:42 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Publicus, Couric is a talking head, Imus is a talking head but something good could come from Imus. The FCC is involved and if they punish or ban him that will/should lead to banning the rappers who use the exact same terms to describe black women, which is a good thing. They'll be back to the street corner, no TV or Radio allowed. Think they won't slit the throats of Je$$ie and $harpton if the millions dry up? Another really, really good thing.
16. Posted by Scrapiron | April 11, 2007 7:42 PM |
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Posted on April 11, 2007 19:42
17. Posted by jaymaster | April 11, 2007 7:42 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Looks to me like an easy way to dispose of a complete failure of an anchor.
17. Posted by jaymaster | April 11, 2007 7:42 PM |
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Posted on April 11, 2007 19:42
18. Posted by wavemaker | April 11, 2007 8:13 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
One day I think I might wake up and discover that the media power's response to this controversy was, "sorry Katie, but you must go. That's the way it is." Same as Mike Barnicle. Same as -- well, same as anyone who has been caught red-handed passing off someone else's words as her own.
Then I snap out of it. Apparently there are degrees of intellectual fraud that depend on the perpetrator and the audience.
And the scotch market receives another boost.
18. Posted by wavemaker | April 11, 2007 8:13 PM |
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Posted on April 11, 2007 20:13
19. Posted by Rance | April 11, 2007 8:49 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Scrapiron:
I haven't heard anyone say that the FCC should/would/could ban Imus.
However, being a free market economy, the market, his sponsors are voting with their dollars and rapidly jumping ship.
19. Posted by Rance | April 11, 2007 8:49 PM |
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Posted on April 11, 2007 20:49
20. Posted by MikeSC | April 11, 2007 9:49 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Nice to see a conservative blogger for the Washington Post is held to a higher journalistic standard than the anchor for the CBS Evening News.
Wasn't that Ben guy fired for alleged plagiarism?
-=Mike
20. Posted by MikeSC | April 11, 2007 9:49 PM |
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Posted on April 11, 2007 21:49
21. Posted by James Cloninger | April 11, 2007 10:39 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I didn't even realise that Perky was still on CBS...go figure.
21. Posted by James Cloninger | April 11, 2007 10:39 PM |
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Posted on April 11, 2007 22:39
22. Posted by archtop | April 11, 2007 11:24 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
This would have been only mildly embarrassing except for one thing - take a look at the last line of Couric's report. What does it say? It says "That's a page from my Notebook." *** MY *** Notebook. Not the producer's notebook!! As it stands, then, this line is a completely false statement, and undermines everything before it. And as a consequence, this will now bring into question the veracity of anything she presents on her news show as ** her's ** in the future.
This is a BIG deal!
22. Posted by archtop | April 11, 2007 11:24 PM |
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Posted on April 11, 2007 23:24
23. Posted by Bill M | April 11, 2007 11:51 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
And as a consequence, this will now bring into question the veracity of anything she presents on her news show as ** her's ** in the future.
But then this is SeeBS, so veracity really has nothing to do with it. It's not even a passing acquaintance of the Tiffany Network.
23. Posted by Bill M | April 11, 2007 11:51 PM |
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Posted on April 11, 2007 23:51
24. Posted by moseby | April 12, 2007 9:56 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
How long before she's trots out the old anal scope and assumes the position to get sympathy and ratings?
BTW: To all of you cbs news watchers: We beat the ruskies, bubba clinton was impeached, and the Red Sox finally won another World Series...in case you missed it watching cbs.
24. Posted by moseby | April 12, 2007 9:56 AM |
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Posted on April 12, 2007 09:56