A large number of bloggers and many on-line news publications are “content aggregators.” They don’t actually gather news but rather depend on publications like the New York Times or the Washington Post to provide their material. In a recent documentary on the New York Times, a member of the Times staff held up a a printed issue of the Huffington Post with the copied parts cut out. The entire page consisted of gaping holes.
Copying someone’s work without attribution is called plagiarism. It is a mortal sin in college. I knew a tenured professor who was summarily fired for plagiarizing a portion of one of his books, and he should have been fired. On the web, however, plagiarism is common and hardly ever discussed.
David Carr in today’s New York Times reported on the efforts of one Simon Dumenco to set some standards on what can be copied and how it should be credited. Mr. Dumenco is forming the Council on Ethical Blogging and Aggregation to work on the problem.
If you read this blog regularly, you know that I get many of my topics and ideas from sources like the New York Times (today is a perfect example), Lancaster Farming, Sierra, The Nation, and a number of other publications. About one-third to one-half of the posts might be original, but much of the commentary is inspired by what I read.
I have been reasonably responsible about giving credit, but I will make a pledge to my readers. If I get my ideas or information from another source, you will be told of that source. I won’t always give you a link, but with any kind of effort you should be able to find the original.
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