Barnicle story on Grantland

Could just as easily have been the hair plugs, the showboat hearings or the nutjob longwindedness.

Delawarians elected him to the senate 6 times. I'm not sure 'plagiarism' ever moved the needle with voters.

 

It never registered with me. I actually never heard about it until I would see him castigated here at SJ when mentioned as a possible Presidential candidate.

 

"Wilmington: A Place to be Somebody!"*


(*Actual motto of Wilmington, Delaware.)

 

poynter's take

http://www.poynter.org/how-tos/leadership-management/136198/have-newsrooms-relaxed-standards-sanctions-for-fabrication-and-plagiarism/

 

There's no "good" or acceptable reason for fabrication.

I remember once attending a dinner in which Rudy Giuliani presented Joe DiMaggio with an award.

The Mayor's press office handed out his prepared text prior to the dinner. But, the Mayor was famous for not using his prepared remarks. He went off script during his speech -- mainly because he was a bigger baseball fan, and was far more knowledgeable about Joe D's career, than the young kid who did the research for the prepared remarks.

The next day, of course, the paper runs a story complete with a quote that was never spoken. It was completely lazy. The reporter likely did not attend the event, or left early.

If that's the case, either don't write about it, or speak to an attendee.

Allowing these instances to go unpunished, or punished in a less severe way, only encourages more of the same behavior.

 

I'm not a big Meacham fan (though I did like his Andy Jackson book a good deal . . . ), but every day on Mourning Joe without the Light-Fingered One is a good day.

 

I'm not about to give that a click, but I sure hope you're not using Poynter to validate your view.

 

the point is that there are shades of gray

each circumstance is different

one size fits all is a knee jerk

you don't have to think or parse.

lazy justice.

 

In the case of Barnicle?

Death penalty.

 

i guess that makes Bill Simmons soft on crime. a wimp.

journalism is no place for wimps.

it's for manly men who pronounce "death penalty" with boldness and conviction.

 

How many times do we have to go through this?

Barnicle received the death penalty from his employer for fabrication.

Whether or not he works thereafter and in what capacity and for whom are different questions.

 

I remember running the Boston Marathon in 1996. I hit the wall at heartbreak hill and Mike Barnicle who was running the race backwards at the time, smoking a large Churchill cigar and telling anecdotes to fans noticed my struggle. Barnicle put me on his back and carried me the rest of the race.

As a side note - it is interesting to note some of the people decrying plagiarism as the unforgivable sin are also some of the biggest Obama supporters on the board. I guess Joe Biden gets a free ride because some people's morals are more flexible than they would have you believe.