Telegraph-Journal apologizes for plagiarism
Last Updated: Monday, August 31, 2009 | 9:56 AM ET
CBC News
The Telegraph-Journal has apologized for its third error in the last few months after a reporter plagiarized a story from New Brunswick's French-language daily newspaper.
Irving-owned Brunswick News Inc.'s flagship newspaper apologized in its Saturday edition for a story that it says a contract reporter translated from L'Acadie Nouvelle and filed it using her byline without attributing the source.
"The Telegraph-Journal expects its journalists to operate with honesty and integrity; a bare translation without credit or attribution is plagiarism and is contrary to the Telegraph-Journal's core ethics and principles," the apology said.
The newspaper has terminated the contract of the reporter who filed the story.
In May, the newspaper was criticized for firing an intern over a story about opposition to Premier Shawn Graham receiving an honourary degree from the University of New Brunswick, while the publisher and editor who approved the story weren't disciplined.
And last month, the Telegraph-Journal was forced to admit an article on Prime Minister Stephen Harper's handling of a communion wafer at former governor general Roméo LeBlanc's state funeral was not factual. Both Jamie Irving, the publisher, and Shawna Richer, the editor, were removed from the newspaper after the apology.
Hurts reputation
Francis Sonier, the general manager of L'Acadie Nouvelle, said the plagiarism admission is hurting the newspaper's reputation.
Sonier said the controversy comes as Brunswick News Inc. is trying to take on L'Acadie Nouvelle with its own new French weekly newspaper.
"We can see the Telegraph-Journal would like to get a larger market in northern New Brunswick but these kinds of things are not acceptable," Sonier said.
Bruce Wark, a retired journalism ethics professor at Kings College University in Halifax, said he has been following the controversies at the newspaper this summer. And he said he's not surprised the reporter in question was fired.
"Newspapers and news media outlets are always concerned about their credibility, and plagiarism does tend to undermine that credibility," Wark said.
"It's hard to say whether all of these things are coming together by coincidence or whether they reveal real editorial problems."
Wark said the latest fiasco may mean the paper needs to take a closer look at the supervisors and editorial staff on hand.
