 |
| Photo from: rt.com |
It seems that Zakaria took some passages out of Lapore's April 23 issue in The New Yorker, "Battleground America." and that Zakaria's, "The Case For Gun Control," which is already out and most likely now revised, is dated for August 20, shows media reports claims, a very noticeable similarity to Lapore's essay.
What led Zakaria to commit this act? Zakaria made this statement, "Media reporters have pointed out, that paragraphs in my TIME column this week bear close similarities to paragraphs in the Jill Lepore's essay in the April 22 issue 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 to unreservedly to her, my editors at TIME, and to my readers."
Later on, TIME also released its own statement, "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. As a result we are suspending Fareed's column for a month, pending further review."
Now keep in mind that both statements were on August 10. Now, 3 days ago which would was August 16, a bit over a week's gap, and NOT the "month" that was stated for suspension and "pending further review," TIME, CNN reinstated Zakaria.
TIME magazine spokeswoman on Thursday states, " We have completed a thorough review of each of Fareed Zakaria's columns, for Time and we are entirely satisfied with the language in question in his recent column was an unintentional error and an isolated incident for which he has apologized."
CNN also did an internal investigation of Zakaria's work and stated, "We found nothing that merited continuing the suspension," it also reads, "Zakaria has apologized for his journalistic lapse. CNN and Zakaria will work together to strengthen further the procedure for his show and blog."
Zakaria's article in TIME has been reschedule to post in a somewhat of different context on September 7.
Now, with all of this out in the open, Zakaria's apology, and both internal investigations seemed fit to TIME and CNN, what does that say about journalism and the media today? Can anyone admit they plagiarize another writer's work, make the apology, then get the pat on the back that it was ok and not intentionally done after being admitted by the person who did the act? Or, is TIME and CNN trying to save themselves due to the declination of viewers(CNN), in so many ways, in their ratings?
Just remember to keep in mind that Fareed's show GPS, is a flagship show. So, will the story of his plagiarism help bring TIME and CNN's ratings up? I've come to learn that attention of any kind in media, whether it is good or bad, always seems to do the trick, but will it be enough? We'll see how this one turns out in the near future..
Sources:
RT News
Newsmax
Mediaite.com
The New York Times
Huffington Post
