Buchtelite Busted

[zippyrifle32]

Posted on Thu, Mar. 23, 2006Student protests loss of byline in BuchteliteUA newspaper editors summoned to office on claim of plagiarism, cheating, dishonestyBy Carol BiliczkyBeacon Journal staff writerWhen student editors at the University of Akron newspaper took a writer's byline off a story, they thought they were trying to be fair.Instead, the three were brought before UA's Office of Student Judicial Affairs for an informal meeting on an allegation of plagiarism, cheating and academic dishonesty.Dan Kadar, editor in chief of the student-run Buchtelite, said he is dumbfounded that UA would insert itself into the newspaper's business.``Telling us what to do just didn't seem right,'' he said. ``When we try to teach students the correct journalism ethics, you get into a situation like this.''But Karlise Brown, the theater student who complained to UA, said the student editors didn't play fair with her, so she was forced to take the issue up a notch.She was unhappy over two issues -- that the editors took her byline, ``By Karlise Brown,'' off an article, and that when she learned what they were going to do, they didn't give her a chance to withdraw the article.``I don't feel their practices are ethical, so I went through channels to do things the way they should be done,'' she said.Brown turned to judicial affairs, the office that holds students accountable for their behavior and in severe cases can suspend or dismiss them.In 2004, UA graduate student Charles Plinton ran afoul of a UA disciplinary panel in judicial affairs. It found him ``responsible'' for dealing drugs to a confidential informant, even though a Summit County jury had found him not guilty. Suspended from school and banished from student housing, he killed himself.In the Buchtelite case, Megan O'Leary, graduate assistant for student and staff learning and a judicial affairs officer, met with Kadar and fellow student editors Courtney Cahoon and Kristin Snowberger last week about the complaint.(Snowberger and Kadar work part time as correspondents for the Beacon Journal.)Kadar agrees they substituted ``Staff report'' for Brown's byline on her Jan. 31 story on Raisin in the Sun, a student production that was to help mark Black History Month in February.Kadar said they made the change for ethical reasons -- because Brown mentioned herself in the article as a member of the cast or crew. Writers aren't supposed to cover events in which they have a stake, Kadar said. Although they hadn't been so rigid in the past, this time they followed the Buchtelite's own policy manual.Did they do the right thing?They turned to Tim Smith, a journalism professor at Can't State University, for advice.He assailed UA's judicial affairs office for getting mixed up in something that the Buchtelite editors had the right to decide.The UA office is ``basically foolish,'' Smith said. ``I told the students to tell them, politely, `buzz off.' ''They did, rejecting O'Leary's suggestion that they apologize to Brown in writing.It's up to them whether they give out the prized bylines that indicate who wrote an article, Kadar argued.Still, he's worried. If students complain to the school every time they find fault with the Buchtelite, UA would control the newspaper -- and, he argues, it doesn't. Although UA provides space in the Student Center and also pays for an adviser, Kadar said, the newspaper pays its own way by selling ads.Michele Campbell, assistant dean of student life, declined to comment on the complaint against the Buchtelite. The process ``is incomplete at this time,'' she wrote the Beacon Journal in an e-mail. Another hearing is set for today.Brown said she didn't know if she would attend, but she believes she's right. ``It wasn't a staff report because no one at the staff wrote it,'' she said.She has yet to file for her $10 payment for her article. On Tuesday, she said she would no longer write for the newspaper.Carol Biliczky can be reached at 330-996-3729 or cbiliczky@thebeaconjournal.com

[mrelegazna]

Interesting. Gotta side with the editors on this one, for two reasons.1. The conflict of interest in a reporter covering his/her own event for a newspaper that tries to maintain even the slightest amount of intergrity and neutrality is obvious, first day of Journo 101 stuff. It's a shame they let it slide in the past, but that doesn't mean they should be compelled to do it going forward.2. I don't understand why UA is siding with the writer here. Do they not even recognize or respect this basic journalistic tenet that's apparently written policy at The Buchtelite? That's not only stupid but unseemly, university heads micromanaging the student newspaper, no matter how much independence the Buchtelite does or does not have from the university.

[sgm405]

I disagree wholeheartedly. I totally side with the writer. When the article was originally turned in, the editors should have told the writer that they didn't want her mentioned herself in the article and either a) asked her to take that part out or, taken it out themselves. If she agreed, this wouldn't even be an issue. If she disagreed, they should have simply pulled it from the paper. You can't put an article in the paper and claim it was written by someone else, that is plagiarism. Now, I don't think the editors meant to "steal" the story...I just think they saw the problem and instead of taking the necessary steps in fixing the problem correctly, took the easy and lazy way out.

[zippyrifle32]

1. The conflict of interest in a reporter covering his/her own event for a newspaper that tries to maintain even the slightest amount of intergrity and neutrality is obvious, first day of Journo 101 stuff.

but then again, anyone can submit articles for the buchtelite so maybe they never took journalism 101. there was miscommunication there, but to say that because the paper is independent of the university that their writers can't be held accountable by the university is garbage. if you're a student all of your actions can be held accountable. now i don't know details, and maybe they did it right. if that's the case then they'll be let off and the mess will be cleared up. it is something worth looking into though.

[Valpo Zip]

If the editors didn't like the fact that the writer of the story had a stake in it, they should have told her that the story won't be published !But publishing someone's story attributed to some one else is definitely plagiarism.According to www.websters.com:plagiarismn 1: a piece of writing that has been copied from someone else and is presented as being your own work 2: the act of plagiarizing; taking someone's words or ideas as if they were your own [syn: plagiarization, plagiarisation, piracy]

[Balki Bartokomous]

The first amendment:Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.The university seems to be shitting all over that one when it comes to trying to take action against the Buchtelite. Zippyrifle32, what is your beef with the Buchtelite?

[sgm405]

The first amendment:Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.The university seems to be shitting all over that one when it comes to trying to take action against the Buchtelite. Zippyrifle32, what is your beef with the Buchtelite?

Freedom of speech and freedom of press don't protect the paper from plagiarism.

[mrelegazna]

This isn't plagiarism. They didn't take her work and then attibute it to someone else. They took her work and attributed to nobody in particular, in accordance with not only Buchtelite policy but policy in pretty much every American newspaper that doesn't allow reporters to cover themselves. Her assertion that it counts as crediting someone else because she considers herself a freelancer and not staff is beyond weak.It'd be nice if all the writers for The Buchtelite knew basic stuff like that, but even if they don't, the editors certainly must. And they did.And as far as "They should've rejected it when she turned it in," that's not realistic. It's not like handing in a paper that an editor combs over while you stand and wait. If they were up against a deadline and they alloted space for her assignment, they would've had no choice but to run it - you just can't put out a newspaper with a big empty space, or obvious, distracting filler like GO ZIPS go zips GO ZIPS, and they probably didn't have time to rearrange the layout appropriately.I'm not saying the editors handled this perfectly...in particular, they either assigned her to a story they shouldn't have, or they allot space for reporters when they don't even know what story they'll be doing, and both are problematic...but the writer's beef is that she didn't get to see her name in lights, apparently, and that's not a serious enough conflict for the university to intervene on, especially since the editors were following written policy.

[zippyrifle32]

like i said, i don't know if they did it the right way or not, but she didn't think it was fair (probably because she didn't know how much goes into writing for the paper), but it is still something that should be looked into. my beef with the buchtelite? at first i didn't like the quality of the paper (which hasn't really improved that much). then two pieces were written directed at me personally, which was pretty funny, but everything that i complained about they changed (except "dear cindy" which still belongs in a playboy). i think for a college paper they should have higher standards then my old high school paper. that's all.

[sgm405]

This isn't plagiarism.  They didn't take her work and then attibute it to someone else.  They took her work and attributed to nobody in particular, in accordance with not only Buchtelite policy but policy in pretty much every American newspaper that doesn't allow reporters to cover themselves.

Her article was taken, exactly as she wrote it, and published in the paper. The paper listed the author as "Staff report". She is not on the staff of the Buchtellite. Therefore, the staff is taking credit for a piece of writing that a non-staff member wrote. That is plagiarism...I don't know why anyone would struggle to see that...

[RooWho?]

Go figure, the Buchtelite committing such a terrible journalism sin!From what it sounds like, the article wasn't written that well to begin with and should've been changed or edited, as has been suggested. For a paper that only runs twice a week, you'd think that'd be easy! As far as the university is concerned, the paper is independent. Therefore, as my esteemed professor has stated, it has no place in this matter. If the writer in question wants to take ANY action, it has to be through court. Period.At least you guys still have the Beacon...

[KNCLZip]

This isn't plagiarism.  They didn't take her work and then attibute it to someone else.  They took her work and attributed to nobody in particular, in accordance with not only Buchtelite policy but policy in pretty much every American newspaper that doesn't allow reporters to cover themselves.

Her article was taken, exactly as she wrote it, and published in the paper. The paper listed the author as "Staff report". She is not on the staff of the Buchtellite. Therefore, the staff is taking credit for a piece of writing that a non-staff member wrote. That is plagiarism...I don't know why anyone would struggle to see that...

When I was an undergraduate at Delaware taking English 307, the class on News Writing and Editiing, it was standard practice for the student newspaper (The Review) to byline stories by members of the class as "Staff Reporter". This even though when you wrote an article, you were not allowed to say when interviewing people that you were reporting for The Review unless you were assigned the story by an editor, i.e., the class assignments to write a feature story, etc, involved interviewing people, but you had to tell them that you were an E307 student who would try to freelance the story to The Review. One time a student in my dorm came in having just been beaten up and mugged for his groceries across the street, and I called the campus news editor immediately, and she put me on the story officially. Then I could ask witnesses, the police, roommates, etc. for interviews and say I was "with The Review". But either way, it has to be understood that if you submit it for publication, it becomes property of the newspaper. It's standard journalistic practice not to report on yourself without explicitly stating as such. That's just part of journalism! Sharon Reed's "Body of Work" piece involved the reporter as part of the story, but explicity, so it falls into a different category. Unfortunately for her, it seems like the Buchtelite is more in the right than the author here.

[zippyrifle32]

in today's buchtelite...

In Our Opinion Buchtelite's decisions defend Constitution Buchtelite Reporter opinion@buchtelite.com Print Story    E-mail Author      Discuss      Newspapers don't get much respect.There was once a time when people had a reverence for newspapers and journalists, when they trusted the press to be an advocate for the truth. Those days are over. That notion was so important, in fact, that it is protected by the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which guarantees freedom of the press. That freedom also applies to the Buchtelite. Some might not view it as a "real" newspaper, as it is only run by students. That is a misperception. Recently, the Office of Student Judicial Affairs began investigating three editors of the Buchtelite for an alleged violation of the Student Code of Conduct. The violation - plagiarism - was related to a Jan. 31 story that ran without the writer's byline. After editors determined the writer had written the story despite a conflict of interest, the decision was made to remove her byline. That editorial decision was, in fact, an error. The story should not have run, period. However, the writer did not see it in the same light, as she did not understand the fundamentals of journalism. She went to SJA and lodged a complaint against the people she presumably thought were the culprits. Student Judicial Affairs, which apparently also misunderstands the fundamentals of journalism, took the complaint and ran with it. Once it's in writing, it carries a lot of weight in their eyes. However, SJA has no jurisdiction or authority over the Buchtelite. No one does. That is the essence of freedom of the press. Regardless, SJA decided to take on the student journalists for the editorial decisions they made at the newspaper. Tuesday's story regarding the investigation came at a time when SJA is rather vulnerable, considering it has been the focus of a series in the Akron Beacon Journal. It is not the intent of the Buchtelite to exploit such an opportunity, but it is the job of journalists to provide its readers with the truth. Should our readers and the community care that Buchtelite editors are being investigated for things they have done in their capacity as journalists? We believe they should and hope they do. Regardless of how people feel about the newspaper, they should care about the Constitution. Some might think this is a trivial matter that the Buchtelite is blowing out of proportion. But encroaching upon our constitutional freedom is not something we can ignore. It isn't merely for our own benefit. Protecting that freedom is our responsibility to other journalists. We also believe strongly in our responsibility to our readers. Our independence enables us to seek the truth and share it with our readers. That is a responsibility we take quite seriously.

let's just say that they did plagiarize (hypothetically), how can you say that the first amendment protects you from breaking the law and plagiarizing someone else? i mean, you can print up a big story about how you are going to kill the president, but first amendment or not you're going to still have the secret service knocking at your door. anyways, if they did do wrong, then they could be held accountable not as the newspaper, but as students of the university. being a student here makes you accountable to the sja.

[Balki Bartokomous]

Its nice to see that sgm405 is once again, in way over his head.

[urbanpreppie05]

Since I am an alumni of the Buchtelite, i can actually comment on this with no fear of losing my job:-)The author of the story is, sadly, WRONG. Granted she may not have known that she couldn't submit a story on something she was directly involved in, but that is a MAJOR conflict of interest. Putting her name on top of the story would seriously jepordize the paper's credibility. It also opens up the door to other "contributors" publicizing their own events by writing "stories" for the paper, which would mainly be nothing but glorified press releases. What does confuse me is how the Bj said that bylines were 'earned' and "prized". I don't remember them being that way, they were kind of a given...As for standing over her shoulder and checking out the story before turning it in, that is darned near impossible. Putting out a paper is very, very time consuming and seriously, it's hard.And no, they didn't plagerize her at all...using the edited by Staff Reports byline assures the reader that the story at least was edited by the paper. It's done many, many times to assure that journalistic integrity is being upheld. The Buchtelite is really trying here people. They have covered probably the MOST On-campus things I have ever seen them cover. (and most of them have been positive) Cut them some slack...

[sgm405]

Its nice to see that sgm405 is once again, in way over his head.

Care to back that up?

[MRasor0200]

I like this journalistic debate.I will say that plagiarism is not the First Amendment issue here.The First Amendment issue is the university telling an independent newspaper how to operate, by threatening its staff members individually. Those three editors could have been kicked out of school if the "plagiarism" was true.If the Buchtelite had plagiarized an employee, which is damned near impossible when talking about your own staff members, it would be a state court case, not a Student Judicial Affairs issue. They had as much jurisdiction as they would if a student complained about Subway employees not putting enough tomatoes on sandwiches.To have the university hanging over the Buchtelite, and to have it threaten to kick editors out of school, is asinine and unconstitutional.But don't mind me; keep arguing. I just wanted to clarify some things.

[zen]

Concepts of Intellectual property trump journalistic tenets.

[MRasor0200]

Right, but as a Buchtelite employee, Brown's intellectual property belonged to the Buchtelite from the get-go.It's just like if you create an ad for WhiteSpace Creative. WhiteSpace owns the ad, not you.The Buchtelite owned this story, not Brown.

[zen]

Right, but as a Buchtelite employee, Brown's intellectual property belonged to the Buchtelite from the get-go.It's just like if you create an ad for WhiteSpace Creative. WhiteSpace owns the ad, not you.The Buchtelite owned this story, not Brown.

It's true, the Buchtelite "owns" it, but I believe intellectual property doesn't work exactly like private property or capital. If the author requests credit, they have that right. The paper has the right to use it as they see fit (if the author was in the employ of or under contract to the paper), but that doesn't mean they have the right not to credit the author unless the author agrees to it.If I work 2 years for a software company writing code, all I get is my paycheck and credit (unless I release them of that obligation) for my contribution. I am not entitled to any cut of the profit, any say in what happens with that code, or virtually any other future decision on that code. (a legal exception that I have heard of is if one individual's contribution is 50% or more than the totality of the project. Then they can fight for legal ownership privaledges). Regardless, even though the software company puts their name all over the packaging, I still have the right to demand credit for my part.

[MRasor0200]

The paper has the right to use it as they see fit (if the author was in the employ of or under contract to the paper), but that doesn't mean they have the right not to credit the author unless the author agrees to it.

A communications law professor, Tim Smith from Can't State, told us the exact opposite. He said no one has the right to a byline.

[zippyrifle32]

but the thing is by being a student you fall under the sja. if for some reason you weren't a student but still worked for the buchtelite and then the university tried to punish that person, you could complain. but as a student any action you take that is against school rules you fall under the university's jurisdiction.