TVNewser points to a CNN item detailing how Jeff Koinange, an Africa correspondent, was robbed outside of CNN's Johannesburg offices this weekend. [via Netscape]

Taking a page out of the slacker handbook this week is apparently The Australian's Frank Devine, who finds that sources are much more easy to get quotes from when you just Google the topic you are looking for, make a few key changes to the exact quotations and information that someone else acquired, and print them in your own article. Some people say that journalists are getting information and topics to write about from blogs, and I don't doubt it, since it works most of the time in the other direction - but I think this is just a bit silly. What follows below comes to me via a colleague of mine, who figured it was right up my alley and thought it wise that more people are made aware of it.

Way back on January 19, Arabisto.com contributor Rima Abdelkader published this item entitled "FOX TV Show '24' Angers Arab/Muslim Fans in the United States and Abroad," featuring comments from New York-based law student and Arab-American Sawsan Zaky, who expressed horror towards FOX's hit show because of how it showed Muslims in America - and that's just part of the quality story that Abdelkader had put together. Here's where Devine fits in. Seems that he thought the same about the work from the Arabisto site, and used slightly altered quotes in this commentary, published on Feburary 2 under the hed of "There's no villainy in reflecting the truth about terrorists." It seems that Sawsan Zaky is either the most quoted person from the Arab-American community when it comes to 24, or his quote is just really really good and it's no big deal if we tweak a few words here and there. Devine also did a really good job of sourcing information about Dr. Jack Shaheen, who told Abdelkader about his research on film and television and its portrayal of Muslims - but never spoke with the Australian staffer.

As it turns out, Crikey's Jane Nethercote was able to get in touch with Devine, something that the folks at Arabisto unfortunately weren't able to do when they wrote about how this all went down, in an item by Nadia Gergis on Feburary 2. Devine apparently told Crikey that he found Abdelkader's item in Google, and used it "as a reference" because it was "among the more up to date." How quaint.

In my eyes, this is just as lazy as people who use Wikipedia as a flat out source, rather than a strong starting point that has excellent links to original, [we hope] reputable sources of information. I mean, if you read it on the Internet, it must be true, right? Frank Devine may be penning under the world of being a columnist, but after being editor at the Chicago Sun-Times and executive editor of the New York Post two decades ago, you'd think he would know better. It's not so hard to say "In fact, one outspoken blogger found out firsthand from Arab-Americans in the New York City area that..." in your column, now is it?

Another tsk, tsk is the least of Frank Devine's worries at this point, and I seriously hope that I've done my part to spread this story on this side of the globe.

Last week, Wired News posted an item stating that a few articles had been removed from its online stores after the publication determined that a writer that had been publishing stories using sources that weren't who they claimed, or using at least one quote that was said at a previous time, by someone now deceased. A good part of me is amazed that people are surprised these days when they are caught doing something like this. Given the fact that a good amount of what you say and do can end up on the Internet, and that massive amounts of published news and information make a lot of us easily "vettable," it's not hard to find something you're looking for, on the fly.

Kudos to Wired News for standing up here and saying what happened, and let it be a continued lesson to us all to, even in the age of the 1-second news cycle, that we still need to be vigilant.

Last week, Boston Sports Media's David Scott came across the info that Boston University journalism professor Michael Gee had been fired for writing online about one of his students whom he apparently found attractive.

On Thursday, Knight Ridder published a report out of Russia stating that authorities in that country believe that Chechen rebel leader Khozh-Akhmed Nukhayev is responsible for the murder of Forbes' Russian-language editor, Paul Klebnikov, last July.

In Friday's Native American Times, Sam Lewin writes about the guff CNN is currently receiving for its exclusion of American Indians in the group of minorities eligible to receive a piece of $1 million in scholarship money for future journalists. The Native American Journalists Association is leading the protest against CNN, as the network apparently did not consider Native Americans as a minority that should be included in the distribution.

The AP's Julhas Alam reports that Golam Mahfuz, editor of the Bangladeshi Comilla Muktakantha newspaper, was killed on Monday by "unidentified assailants."

I'm not sure I could be more aghast at the fact that a Chinese journalist would be attacked in his own home, have two of his fingers chopped off, all most likely because of his work.

The Associated Press reports that efforts to create a shield law for journalists in Texas has "fizzled."

Portland, Maine's WCSH channel 6 updates the story about the University of New Hampshire student who had been relieved of his role at the school's student paper after his weblogged threats towards fellow student journalist Whitney Williams were made public. They report that Kenneth Gagnon has now been removed from his English class after making "violent sexual" statements about the professor for that class.

Editor & Publisher has details on a recent panel at the American Society of Newspaper Editors convention that discussed unethical behavior by newspaper writers and columnists, including that of the Detroit Free Press' Mitch Albom, who was "caught" writing about something that hadn't happened yet - and ultimately didn't - in a recent item about Michigan State's men's basketball team participating in the NCAA Final Four.

According to an AP story, Phillipine columnist Marlene Garcia Esperat was shot and killed at her home on Thursday, making her the second journalist in that country to be killed this year, and the 15th in two years.

Over at MediaCitizen, Tim Karr wrote yesterday about a complaint filed with the FCC about the recent fun and excitement surrounding the use of video news releases, or VNRs. Additionally, anyone concerned about their use can sign their petition that asks for the end of VNR use.

In the last week, you may have read about some allegations of censorship at New Jersey-based Rutgers University and the campus newspaper, the Daily Targum. As the game of telephone trudged on after the first few news items popped up this story, it slid down the slope from "A Rutgers University journalism class made a change in its curriculum so that students partaking in investigative work would have to do this with regard to off-campus topics from now on," which was correct, to "Now, Rutgers University students, including those who work at the school's Daily Targum, cannot do investigative work about anything on campus."

This isn't to say that everyone has gotten this wrong, but there have been quite a few articles that are missing the point. Having been in Germany last week, I could see first hand the way this story was being covered once it went a few degrees away from the University. Kind of comical how an article that contained concern by a student-run newspaper about lack of proof and the need for additional facts in an article could have the same qualities in op-eds and articles about the situation.

On Monday, the Star-Ledger's Bob Braun slammed Rutgers for what amounts to stopping journalism students from investigating on-campus issues, in this case a look into where the money goes at the school. Unfortunately, the student-run newspaper, and I would like to accentuate the student-run, independent facets of it, got stuck in the middle of it. The paper's Editor-in-Chief, Nick Sevilis, would like to set the record straight, and does so in an op-ed this morning. More or less, Sevilis wants to clarify that the paper has every right to investigate whatever it wants, on-campus or off. The decision to not run the article in question that was borne out of the journalism course was purely because it "needed further investigation." The Targum does believe it does good investigative work about campus-related issues, and stands by its decision to not run the article in question - and even posted a copy of the piece on its website for all to see. [ed: The article's author, Fraidy Reiss, tried to take out a paid advertisement in the newspaper to bypass the editors, but the ad was rejected because of concerns about ads "attacking members of [the] staff."]

In the interest of transparency, we will link to the advertisement with the understanding it was a draft we did not support running in our paper, nor do we endorse. By placing it on the Web site, the Targum is not taking any responsibility for its content.

Additionally, the newspaper is "linked" to the course in that it does accept submissions for consideration of publication. However, the paper's editors do not have complete control over coursework, and are not behind any decision to stop students from investigating Rutgers University.

Condemn the school's policy, if you like, but get your facts straight before roping in others who are affected.

[update 3/9] On Tuesday evening, the Associated Press reported that Rutgers had changed its mind, and that investigative journalism students could now do stories about on-campus topics.

Ithaca College's Ithacan has an article Thursday by Elizabeth Quill about some issues at a local high school newspaper. Ithaca High's Tattler had a little bit of an problem recently when the school's administration stepped in and edited, via the adviser, a cartoon that was attached to an article.

"The district says the Tattler's function is to teach students about journalism," [Editor in Chief Rob] Ochshorn said. "We are saying the function is to provide an outlet for student expression."

Learning about journalism, indeed.

On Tuesday, the World Association of Newspapers issued a letter to the President of Yemen in response to the charges and subsequent jailing of a Yemeni journalist, Abdulkareem Al-Khaiwani. Al-Khaiwani has been held because of critical comments against the country's government - and is only one of a few journalists who have had similar run-ins in recent times with the Yemeni state.

[via Armies of Liberation]

Towards the bottom of this column by the Village Voice's Jarrett Murphy is some skinny on The Week, which sounds a lot to me like a magazine that does what blogs manage to do for readers - do all the filtering so that the blog's readers don't have to spend a ton of time doing so. My whole problem with publications that are less than daily (and even that's a drag, to be honest) is that they just seem like oddities to me. If I want to read about newsworthy events, I'm never going to rely on the print version of a publication for reporting - editorial, sure, but not reporting. It's "old" to me if I get it at the end of the week or whatever. As I'm sure this isn't the case for most Americans - yet - I can see how such a pub would be helpful. But I still don't get it.

Also, make sure and check out the story about Jason Leopold, a writer who was called out for using unconfirmed information related to the Enron scandal in a 2002 item at Salon.com - and how he's looking to unleash his whole life and times drama in a new (maybe) book.

The Charlotte Observer's Mark Washburn wrote in Wednesday's paper about an unnamed producer at WBTV who was fired this week after it turned out that two out of the three lines in a story read on-air were "copied verbatim" from a newspaper story from the day before.

Last night, I had an opportunity to correspond via email with the author of the Radio Free Nepal blog. What I received was some more information about the situation going on in the country, especially regarding the media. Questions and answers below. [Note: any adjustments made in editing the responses are in "[]" brackets]

TMD: To start, can you explain a little bit about how you've been corresponding over the Internet for the last weeks? I know there are times when outbound communications are shut down, and I would expect that dial up Internet access creates for frustrating situations when trying to get information out there. Are you being monitored while on the Internet at all, or are there certain times when you are able to be online, uncensored?

RFN: At exactly 10:00am on Feb 1, the King's address to the nation was broadcasted by the state-run radio and television. And, by the time, the half-an-hour speech ended, all the inbound and outbound calls were closed. Later I heard that army personnel went to each ISPs and shut down the servers and told them not to run it until further orders.

The telephone was open for a few minutes everyday at random time but with out international calls but no internet. The internet and phone started running as usual after a week and since then working fine without any problem. I don't know if its being monitored or not but my query to the ISP was answered in negative.

During the time, the only way to communicate to outer world was the satellite phones which very less people own. And embassies and UN offices let journalists (I don't know about others) to use internet using their V-SAT.

TMD: Also regarding the Internet, are you able to read most websites, but not have access to self-publishing tools such as blogs and whatnot?

RFN: Internet is working fine. I can do anything on the internet, there [are] no restrictions besides in some websites which were banned before the coup like www.cpnm.org which is of the Maoists.

TMD: How about telecommunications - are outbound and inbound telephonecalls up and running at all times in Nepal at this time? Are there restrictions placed on these, as well?

RFN: Telecommunications are running well. There are no restrictions [on] inbound and outbound calls.

However, cellular mobile services have been closed downed and landline telephone service of private telephone company, United Telecom, has been down.

TMD: Is there any information about yourself (yourselves?) that you might be able to share? Based on the writings on the Radio Free Nepal blog, I thought perhaps you were involved in journalism or some form of writing. Without obviously giving away too much information, can you confirm this? Are you currently working at the job that you had before all of this happened with the sacking of the PM and last cabinet? If so, what has changed? If not, what are you planning to do, or are you doing?

RFN: About me, I am a professional journalist associated with a reputed media in the country. I currently hold my job but many of my friends have already lost their jobs and are in situation to lose it. There have been talks about lay-offs but we don't know as yet how many will lose the job. Most of the publishers are in 'wait-and-see' strategy for two-or-three months before finally making the decision but they have already made it clear that there will be lay-off if situation doesn't improve.

TMD: Can you share any more about the public-at-large? Are they all fully aware of what has happened and what the rest of the world knows, which seems to be different from what was originally reported in the news in the days after the "bloodless coup," as some are calling it? How is general morale in the country?

RFN: People in Nepal are largely unknown of the consequences of the takeover. As most of us are uneducated and poor, we have less to do with the politics. And, besides, the ongoing Maoists war and the political instability during democracy have frustrated many. Just after the takeover, many believed that there were no alternatives for Nepal. Now with the information isolation and all they are starting doubting the King's intention.

And, to add here, King Gyanendra is not a popular king. Many Nepalese believe he had hands in the Royal Massacre that saw all but Gyanendra's family killed. King Birendra who was killed in the incident was very popular king. And the current crown prince Paras is more known for his antics – fighting in casinos and reckless driving.

The people are still confused about the whole thing. They know democracy is gone. And, they believe they have no choice either – they believe democracy is good but that failed to their test in last 14 years. They know the King is not doing well, but don't have any other principle to hold on to protest the move. Besides, the King is trying to be popular with price slash in LP Gas and kerosene.

TMD: I've been posting this week about stories saying that over 1,000 journalists are probably going to lose their jobs, if they haven't already. Is that looked at as permanent? Do these news organizations plan to tow the party line or are they planning to just dissolve?

RFN: Since all FM Radio stations who used to give news a top priority have been ordered only to broadcast music, the job of the journalists working there are in danger. I haven't heard anyone being fired but everybody is concerned and are taking their job as gone one despite their employers are using same 'wait and see' strategy. It looks like the King is not in the mood to let them broadcast news anytime in future as the state-owned daily carried a news title, 'No fm station in the world broadcast news' a few days ago. If that happen their jobs will go for forever.

FM Stations, I have heard a dozen or so among 56 operating have been not broadcasting.

TMD:Do you have any idea how many journalists have been arrested for speaking out at this time? Reports are spotty in this country as to what has actually happened. Do you know anyone who has been arrested or censored by the government, or stopped by soldiers for whatever they were doing?

RFN: I have no idea how many journalists have been arrested because news are very hard to come by. The general secretary of Federation of Nepalese Journalists (FNJ) Bishnu Nisthuri have been arrested and the FNJ are planning a peaceful rally against media censorship and the arrest. The president of FNJ Taranath Dahal is said to have been inside UN (which may be true because his interview appeared in the newsmagazine yesterday). What I can confirm now is no one from mainstream dailies has been arrested so far.

I know a lot of people who actually faced the censorship. They told me that the army were not harsh instead were polite but nevertheless did their work sincerely.

Additionally, I asked whether there was anything else this blogger wanted to get out there or that we, the community, could do to help. I received one sentence in reply: "What you can do for Nepal is spread words about need [for] democracy in Nepal because USA's view will make a lot of differences."

This morning, I came across a blog*spot site that appears to be a blog written by someone in Nepal who has "liveblogged" what has amounted to a bloodless coup in that country earlier this month. You can read it at freenepal.blogspot.com. There are a few posts up now, starting from February 1, which was about the time that outside Internet access and mass communication was blocked to all citizens and the media. I have read that there are various "openings" for Internet access and outside communication, and would presume that this was posted sometime during those opportunities.

More background on the situation here, here, here and here.

In response to the recent across-the-board censorship in Nepal, members of the country's Journalists Federation have asked that their fellow journalists draw attention to the oppression in Nepal.

Should a media critic be "allowed" to write a piece - even one that's positive - about another publication in his or her employer's fold? The answer seems simple (yes), but according to what went on at the UK's Spectator last week, it's not quite so cut and dry.

Index on Censorship informs about the resignation of Spectator media writer Stephen Glover, who was in the middle of writing a piece about layoffs at his magazine's sister publication, The Telegraph. Fellow UK pub The Independent has a quality rundown on the situation, including some excellent feedback from Glover himself in this article.

Contrary to my title, I'm not sure I'd consider it smart journalism. The moment that politics starts overtaking common sense, there's an issue. (Otherwise known as the "if you have to ask" rule)

The Cedar Rapids Gazette has the scoop about the theft of more than $10,000 of equipment from the University of Iowa's new School of Journalism and Mass Communication building.

The Australian reports that British journalist Kate Peyton, on assignment in Somalia, was shot twice and later died during surgery to repair the damage. She was 39.

Reuters AlertNet informs about how journalists in Kyrgyzstan have been "instructed" to cover the country's upcoming elections at the end of February, noting that "glowing coverage of pro-government candidates is mandatory, while the rest should receive minimum media attention."

The press censorship situation in Nepal looks to being taking a toll on radio jobs, rediff.com reports Tuesday. According to a Kathmandu Post story, the new guidelines set forth that disallow any news and information reporting on the air have put approximately 1,000 journalism jobs in jeopardy

This week, a few bloggers have been a little skeptical of the kidnapping of Italian reporter Giuliana Sgrena on Friday. Tuesday morning, reports are surfacing which state that Sgrena has been executed - but have not been confirmed.

In what appears to be further confusion (or not!) in the situation, Jawa Report posts about a report that Sgrena is indeed alive and well as of today. The worst thing here is that even if she is released and is just fine, whether she was kidnapped and threatened "for real" will continue to be questionable - and possibly with merit.

David Shaw writes in the Los Angeles Times about the difficulties currently being experienced by writer for a student newspaper, most specifically how censorship and poor treatment of the students is "at an all-time high."

Asia Times Online features a story by Satish Pandey that offers more details on the media censorship situation in Nepal. Earlier in the week, Nepal's King Gyanendra effectively shut down all outside communications for news organizations, keeping the people completely uninformed about what was really going on in the country.

Pandey writes:

Not only have phone, mobile and Internet networks been disconnected since Tuesday, but also all media outlets have been given stern warnings not to report or write anything against the king's takeover. Additionally, army officers have been stationed in all newspaper offices and radio stations - including the national broadcaster - to keep a watchful eye on the news.

What is kind of scary is to think that the people of Nepal actually know less about what is going on in their country than the rest of us, even half a world away.

The Press Trust of India printed a story Wednesday about the change in government control in Nepal earlier this week, when King Gyanendra removed the Prime Minister from power and a "state of emergency" was put in place.

Press censorship was imposed with the suspension of the right to information and foreign news channels were off the cable networks.

The King suspended several provisions of the constitution, including freedom of the press, speech and expression, peaceful Assembly, the right to privacy, and the right against preventive detention, a statement from the royal palace said.

The India Times has more, including a timeline showing the history leading up to today's Nepal.

This isn't even a situation where citizens could come to the direct forefront in news publishing, as Internet access continues to be blocked.

Well, I've been (deservedly so) called out via email for non-mention of the situation regarding CNN chief news exec Eason Jordan's latest comments about journalists (American and otherwise, it appears) being "targeted" by military forces currently serving in Iraq. In all honesty, I have been reading about this for the last few days, but haven't had the "wherewithall" to put together a solid item for your reading enjoyment. But since the ammunition is all sitting in my inbox and bookmarks, I'll share what I've got.

Recently, Jordan made statements to the effect of what is mentioned in the graf above while at the World Economic Forum in Davos. The Forum's own blog discussed the situation on January 28, and is probably best viewed as the closest transcription of what actually went down. Jordan seemed to flip around a bit on the topic, in what was described as wavering "back and forth between what might have been his beliefs and the realization that he had created a kind of public mess."

So what's the deal? Surely Mr. Jordan would not stand in front of a group of individuals at a high profile forum as this and make this kind of statement with either a) some proof or b) some belief that this was the case, right? It appears that the proof isn't really in the pudding. I've seen numerous places where mentions of press being part of "collateral" deaths in the region - to be brutally honest, this wouldn't be surprising, considering the proximity of members of the media - foreign and otherwise - to the fields of war. But it's a pretty damning statement to even suggest that soldiers are actually trying to kill reporters, directly or otherwise.

To me, as someone who follows as much media (let alone the stories the media is covering) as I can, it's amazing to note that rarely - if ever - was any news regarding this statement picked up in the last few days. Think about it - if someone had proof, irrefutable proof, that soldiers were killing members of the media, wouldn't that be big news? Perhaps there's a reason for it not being big news - it isn't happening.

Now obviously I'm not in the head of every soldier fighting in Iraq right now, so you can never say never in a case like this - but with the prevalence of mass media in the area, doesn't anyone think that this would have "gotten out" if it were indeed going on? Hell, wouldn't someone have been captured on camera doing so by now? I'm all for conspiracies when they have merit, but this looks like someone spitting out some mumbo jumbo, then trying to hide under the desk when he realizes that people actually want to hear about what has just been spewed forth. [And yes, I mean spewed.]

On Thursday morning, John Hinderaker at Power Line wrote about the latest on this situation, including a harkening back to 2002, when Jordan stated that "...in both places journalists are not only being killed but they're being targeted. There are combatants in both of these conflicts who are trying to kill journalists, and that is unusual and a very nightmarish situation." That specific 2002 incident is pretty clear after reading this post by Captain Ed at Captain's Quarters - a journalist getting killed while in a warzone is a very different situation than one being killed in a warzone on purpose.

So what is it? Do we really believe that journalists are being targeted and killed because they are journalists? Are we talking about people in Iraq who are working as journalists by day but are terrorists on the down low? Are we talking about journalists being systematically "taken out" by the military for some unknown purpose? I don't know about you, but it's amazing to me that someone with a level of prominence as Mr. Jordan would be going on about such things, with nary a comment from the major media outlets in this country - and I'm not talking about commentary shows, mind you.

If you're looking for some really comprehensive coverage of the Eason Jordan situation, and any future fallout, definitely keep your eyes peeled at Captain's Quarters - the site is all over the story and is a wealth of information on the subject. [Thanks, Matthew, for the heads up]

Editor & Publisher's Joe Strupp has details on the "recall" of a sports reporter for the Worcester Telegram & Gazette from his post in Jacksonville to cover the New England Patriots at the Super Bowl. It turns out that a recent piece that ran on Ken Powers' byline contained "substantial portions" of a column by Sports Illustrated's Peter King from a week earlier. Strupp reports that an investigation is underway and that Powers is on leave from the paper at this time.

[update] Bruce Allen at Boston Sports Media is all over this story, with a side-by-side (top-by-bottom?) comparison of Powers vs. King prose. It's pretty....damning.

[update 2/3, 7:52pm] Powers has been fired by the Telegram & Gazette, Strupp reports Thursday night.

Chinadaily.com.cn ran a Beijing Today story on Friday about health exams given to over a thousand reporters in China, and how the results aren't so good for the industry. They report that only 2.4%, or 28 of 1,182 members of the press came back with a clean bill of health. It appears that stress is described as responsible for most ailments included, such as stomach problems and lack of sleep.

While the numbers appear staggering, it should be pointed out that there is no comparison against the rest of the Chinese population, or any other segment of the workforce.

When Rory O'Connor and MediaChannel broke the story about Metro International execs using some offensive words in public - on multiple occasions - I truly wasn't expecting anything to come of it sans an apology of some sorts.

Imagine the surprise on Thursday morning when I read that Metro announced that Steve Nylund would be "demoted" from his post at the top of the North American business, and that board member Hans Holger-Albrecht had resigned his position. Rory O'Connor is all over the story, including the fact that Boston Globe columnist Alex Beam apparently knew all about the racist comments for months, but didn't pursue the situation after reaching a few dead ends. Beam obviously can cover whatever he wishes, but having this story not show up in the Globe - or through the due diligence that O'Connor refers to in the New York Times Company's acqusition of almost half of Boston Metro just leaves a little egg on their face, unfortunately.

The Globe and Mail has covers the murder of Colombian radio host Julio Hernando Palacios. Palacios was shot and killed by unknown assailants on Tuesday while driving to work.

On Monday, MediaChannel writer and Media Bloggers Association member Rory O'Connor wrote about some racially insensitive comments being made by two Metro International executives in the last two years at events given by the company. If you're not familiar with Metro International, they are the publisher of free daily papers distributed to commuters in 17 countries. Just a few days ago, it was announced that the New York Times Company had purchased a 49% stake in the Boston Metro publication, ultimately saving some of their share in the Boston market, as they are the owners of the Boston Globe. These free dailies are suspected to be snagging readership from the paid papers in many markets, and a pre-emptive move is most likely what the Times Company had in mind.

While O'Connor was not able to get a comment directly from any of the involved publications, Robert Cox points out that the Globe mentioned the MediaChannel piece in a Christopher Rowland article Tuesday. The article contained an apology from Steve Nylund, the North American executive in charge of Metro, who said he "unwittingly made the joke at the conference when he was asked to translate it into English by a colleague." The piece also states that Metro "acknowledged" that second statement O'Connor pointed out, and that "Neither incident should be viewed as a commentary on the commitment to diversity and tolerance of Metro International"

O'Connor's piece would beg to disagree with the "commitment to diversity and tolerance," however, so the benefit of the doubt isn't so quickly handed out in this particular case. While one incident of this type should be in no way justified, two is certainly a pattern of behavior. Nylund is in a position where he is ultimately responsible for the editorial content of all the company's publications in North America, and I assume he would not look so kindly on comments of the same persuasion making it in print. At the same time, one would imagine that he should be able to hold himself back from making any "jokes" of this type in front of a group of people. Not being able to do so only lends creedence to the assumptions one could make after reading the MediaChannel piece.

On Tuesday, O'Connor posted updated information on the story, including "responses" from the Times and Metro posted by Dan Kennedy of the Boston Phoenix. My personal favorite is that the "joke" Nylund read came from a Metro staffer who "is no longer with the company." How quaint.

Fort Wayne's News-Sentinel has a column Monday by executive editor Linda Austin about a freelancer who was caught - by a reader - using other peoples' writing as his own.

No system is foolproof, and the Internet has made it both easier to steal others’ work and to track that theft.

While it is not an easy thing to query every single line of text through the Internet to test for plagiarism, I expect for more media companies to take extra steps to prevent these things from happening in the future.

The Tribune-Review has a letter to the editor Sunday wherein the writer expresses his belief that the American media has done a poor job of covering the situations of those who actually live in the tsunami-destroyed areas, rather than tourists, stating that "very little in-depth coverage has been provided on anyone who actually lived in these areas."

What do you think? Are reporters and producers making a mistake when they stick to the stories of those living in this country (or elsewhere in the West), thinking they are creating relevance? Or has the coverage been even-handed across the board, and this is an extreme case?

In October, there were concerns about the accreditation of Arizona State University's journalism school. This week, the accreditation was removed the AP reports.

But while we're talking about journalism skills and credibility, this report should probably be fixed up - "fail to promote woman" isn't exactly correct grammar, to say the least.

[update: 12/29] E&P's Joe Strupp gets the story straight on Wednesday, confirming that ASU's J-school has not lost its accreditation at this time, and has only been given an "initial review" that was highly critical of the school.

Vermont's WNNE-TV picks up an AP story about the case against a Fosters Daily Democrat photojournalist who was charged with interference while taking pictures of an incident involving police and University of New Hampshire students.