August 11, 2012
CNN and Time Magazine Suspend Fareed Zakaria After Admission of Plagiarism
By Christine Haughney (08-10-12)
NY Times: Fareed Zakaria Story
Steven Senne/Associated Press Fareed Zakaria in May at Harvard University, where he received an honorary degree.8:21 p.m. | Updated
Time magazine and CNN suspended Fareed Zakaria, the writer and television host, on Friday after he apologized for plagiarizing a New Yorker article in his column on gun control in the August 20 issue of Time.
Some passages in Mr. Zakaria’s column, “The Case for Gun Control,” closely tracked those in a longer article on guns in America by the historian Jill Lepore, which appeared in the April 23 issue of The New Yorker.
The similarities in the texts were spotted by the conservative Web site NewsBusters, and quickly spread across the Internet after appearing on the media blog JimRomenesko.com.
Mr. Zakaria issued a statement Friday afternoon saying: “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.”
His admission is the second instance in less than two weeks of a prominent writer owning up to an ethical lapse. Last week, the science writer Jonah Lehrer admitted that he fabricated quotes from Bob Dylan for his best-selling book “Imagine: How Creativity Works.” Mr. Lehrer was forced to resign as a staff writer for The New Yorker, and his publisher, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, said it would recall print copies of the book.
Time said it was suspending Mr. Zakaria’s column for a month, pending review. “Time accepts Fareed’s apology, but what he did violates our own standards for our columnists, which is that their work must not only be factual but original; their views must not only be their own but their words as well,” said Ali Zelenko, a spokeswoman for the magazine.
CNN, like Time magazine, is owned by Time Warner.In a statement, CNN said: “We have reviewed Fareed Zakaria’s Time column, for which he has apologized. He wrote a shorter blog post on CNN.com on the same issue which included similar unattributed excerpts. That blog post has been removed and CNN has suspended Fareed Zakaria while this matter is under review.”
Earlier this year, Mr. Zakaria was criticized for giving a commencement speech at Harvard that was very similar to the one he had earlier given at Duke.
Mr. Zakaria, 48, balances a demanding schedule, doing work for multiple media properties. He is a CNN host, an editor at large at Time, a Washington Post columnist and an author. He was born in India and graduated from Harvard and Yale.
Fred Hiatt, the Washington Post’s editorial page editor, said he also would start examining Mr. Zakaria’s work: “Fareed Zakaria is a valued contributor. We’ve never had any reason to doubt the integrity of his work for us. Given his acknowledgment today, we intend to review his work with us.”
The following passages provide an example of the repetition of Ms. Lepore’s work in Mr. Zakaria’s column:
Mr. Zakaria:
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.”
Ms. Lepore:
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.”
Let us hope this episode does not tarnish his name for good. This articulate and intelligent journalist and author has made a genuine mistake by not acknowledging his sources. The powerful US gun lobby got to him for his article.–Din Merican
the demanding schedule of his, perhaps motivated by his need to promote himself, obviously led him to copy rather than create.
another example of all that is wrong and false with even the best of the west!
He can now come and work with RTM where “copy & paste” is the SOP …..rais will headhunt such person.
Oh well. NRA will be happy.
Its OK in Malaysia. All the kangkung professors do it routinely, and in fact encourage their students to do it.
The word “Plagiarism” is banned being mentioned, orally or in written form in the halls of UPM, USM, UKM and all our universities. Anybody using this word in the campuses will be reported to the police under the Official Secrets Act.
And you know what? Those kangkung professors will say, ” Hey, even Fareed Zakaria does it, so why can’t we?”
It is so simple to avoid the charge of the “P” word. Just acknowledge your sources… something every journalist ought to know. It is strange that he did not do this.
Got at by the gun lobby? No, I do not think so. It is his own oversight or folly.
Sad , but it has to be this way. There cannot be exceptions.
Compare this to judgement of Appeals Court Judge Raus Md Sharif who said a child rapist convicted of statutory rape need not serve the mandatory jail sentence because it is NOT IN A PUBLIC INTEREST…. why? the child rapist has a bright future…. to win GOLD MEDALS for Malaysia.
Mariam Mokhtar wrote a good heartfelt piece on this. READ HERE “Judge, alleged rapist dishonour nation.”
As I said many times, our Malaysian judiciary is getting from BAD to WORSE.. It can’t even protect the interest of a 13 year old girl who was statutory raped all because the judge thinks the child rapist has a ‘BRIGHT FUTURE” ( that’s what the judge said) …. to win GOLD MEDALS for Malaysia.
It seems the more senior our judges, the more they think the victim is at fault.
This case especially makes me PUKE… I wish I can vomit out at the front door of the “PALACE OF JUSTICE” in Putrajaya.
A “PALACE”??? The Malay Rulers should disallow such a word to be used for the building housing these judges in Putrajaya. It brings insult to the image of the monarchy by associating the word with these judges with questionable legal wisdom.
CNN should seriously consider employing Journalists from Utusal the Star and the NST. They write original exposes as to what comes to their numskull -underutilised- brain- very original stuff they spew out. Brand new underused UmnoMelayus brain. Their brain commands high price in the open market for underusage.
By the way things are going on in Malaysia this Fareed Zakaria need not even to apologize. BN will welcome him home as a hero. May we will have another holiday, ya!
A very good example is our national bowler who “rape” a 13 years old girl was sentenced to 5 years probation and fine RM25,000.00. Imaging a rapist can be let off so lightly just because he is a sport celebrity. How convenience.
if you compare the two passages from Zakaria and Ms. Lepore, it becomes obvious that he tried to mislead the readers. he did not have the intention to acknowledge the source in the first place.
that is exactly like our scholars and politicians who are cocksure about themselves and think they can get away with anything. no need to be sorry now.
the higher you fly the harder you fall!
the same thing happened to the previous Defense Minister of Germany, being from a noble family, Graf Guttenberg couldn’t believe his ears when his university revoked his title and the gov. threw him out.
“This (statutory rape) case especially makes me PUKE… I wish I can vomit out at the front door of the “PALACE OF JUSTICE” in Putrajaya.” Old Frank
You’re too kind Frank. You should bring with you a squad of bump grinding Pakatan supporters and defecate at the gates of the Palace of Justice. There is no justice behind palace walls.