Busted
I don't think the letter writer intended to send this one ... at least not this particular draft:
News & Record
200 E Market St
P.O. Box 20848NC 27401-7401
To the Editor:,
****
Write your letter to the editor in this box using the clickable talking points to your right. Make sure to delete this text, or it will be included in your letter!)
Also, be sure to include your daytime and evening phone numbers at the end of your letter. Many newspapers will call you back to confirm that you are the author of your letter, and will not print it without this information!
REMEMBER: DELETE THESE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE WRITING YOUR LETTER AND INCLUDE YOUR DAYTIME AND EVENING PHONE NUMBERS.
***
Diane James
706 Huffman Mill Rd #D-3
Burlington, NC 27215
Speaking of which, the recent letter referring to Teddy Roosevelt and sent by a local man, has received a host of rebuttals, pointing out that he didn't tell the whole story about Roosevelt's political and professional experience.
He didn't tell the whole story about the letter, either. He didn't write it. It was busted by blog commenters as lifted from a well-circulated original that has made the rounds on the Internet.
Sorry. We missed that one.
Maybe I'm naive, but it bothers me that someone would sign his name to a document that is printed 100,000 times over and read by at least as many people, and he didn't really write it.
What it is, is plagiarism.
But if I had a dime for every time someone tried that -- and we catch more of them than we print -- well, I'd have a boatload of dimes.
I've phoned those writers on a number of occasions, but few seem remorseful.
When apprised that misrespresenting what someone else wrote as their own, they essentially say, "Oh, OK."
Comments (4)
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Maybe they should run for vice president. If Joe Biden isn't damaged goods from plagiarizing a stump speech and a law school paper, then it's hard to see why the average Joe should care all that much. Plagiarism is one of those taboos that's simply disappearing.
So was that the entire letter, or did it include the usual vegetarian stuff? If I were you, incidentally, I'd print the letter in full, appending only a scarlet P next to Ms. James's name.
Posted on September 27, 2008 2:55 AM
Maybe they should run for vice president. If Joe Biden isn't damaged goods from plagiarizing a stump speech and a law school paper, then it's hard to see why the average Joe should care all that much. Plagiarism is one of those taboos that's simply disappearing.
So was that the entire letter, or did it include the usual vegetarian stuff? If I were you, incidentally, I'd print the letter in full, appending only a scarlet P next to Ms. James's name.
Posted on September 27, 2008 2:55 AM
I don't know what the big fuss is - I made
it all the way thru high school copy the
work of classmates & even purchased a few term papers while in college.
Posted on September 27, 2008 8:53 AM
Brian, that was the whole letter. Maybe she hit the "enter" key prematurely.
Posted on September 27, 2008 1:17 PM