March 16, 2011
Categories:Washington Post.Washington Post: We 'borrowed' material
The Washington Post liberally borrowed and duplicated material from the Arizona Republic earlier this March, according to an editor’s note from the paper’s website.
The paper says a Post reporter lifted a couple paragraphs from one report on Jared Loughner on March 4 as well as 10 paragraphs in another piece that appeared on March 10.
“It is The Post’s policy that the use of material from other newspapers or sources must be properly attributed. The Post apologizes to the Arizona Republic and to its readers for this serious lapse,” the editors note concludes.
In a statement to Yahoo’s Michael Calderone, the Post’s executive editor said “There are no mitigating circumstances for plagiarism." Calderone also writes that a review of the reporter concluded there were no other examples of plagiarism.
The Post’s note does not name the reporter, but both articles were written by Sari Horwitz. A note preceding each piece online now reads:“This is one of two articles published by The Post online and in its print editions earlier this month that contained substantial material that was borrowed and duplicated, without attribution, from The Arizona Republic newspaper.”