| Editorial Denouncing Plagiarism Is Copied |
Loveland - July 17, 2010
Who wrote the Editorial in today's Loveland Reporter-Herald denouncing the "wild, wild, Web" for creating a culture of
plagiarism? The editorial failed to acknowledge the Reporter-Herald's own role in proliferating fake articles last October when
publishing a "guest commentary" by former Loveland Mayor Gene Pielin (see story from last year) that Pielin never wrote.
Maybe, like Pielins' article, the editor of the Reporter-Herald didn't really write the editorial as the title implies.
Curiously, we don't know who wrote the editorial because an identical editorial was published in Longmont's daily newspaper the
Times-Call today which like the Reporter-Herald is owned by Lehman Communications Corp. The only apparent difference in
the two editorials is the title used over the editorial and which editor is taking credit for writing it. Loveland's Reporter-Herald
editorial denouncing plagiarism did not disclose that it was copied from any other source but instead used the title
"Reporter-Herald Editorial". Ironically, the editorial states, "Permission doesn't make unoriginal thought acceptable"
while passing-off the same editorial in two different "hometown" newspapers as their original Saturday edition editorial.
Ken Amundson, Editor and General Manager of the Loveland Daily Reporter-Herald, could have written the opinion piece
while Longmont's Time-Call has Rob Spencer listed as their "Editorial Page Editor" and John Vahlenkamp listed as the
"Managing Editor" thus leaving their readers to believe either of these two men wrote the editorial. Ed Lehman, the publisher, is
another likely candidate to have written the editorial that appeared in both publications but of course doesn't take credit. Either
way, they are throwing stones from a glass house by attacking all "unoriginal" work as unacceptable through an editorial that two
different publications pretend to have written.
The Reporter Herald's October 2009 "guest commentary" by former Loveland Mayor Pielin was a cynical effort to fool readers
into thinking their mayor, who was endorsed in his campaign by the Reporter-Herald, was on the job and paying close attention
to the benefits of Loveland's public power utility. Instead, Pielin was simply taking credit for an article written thousands of miles
away from Loveland and distributed nationwide by a national public utility lobby. While we believe the deception was likely only
the mayor's and not Amundson's -- we do take note of the fact the Reporter-Herald never ran a correction or apologized to their
readers after the fraud was exposed by LovelandPolitics.
Today's editorial titled "Web Creates Copying Culture" is another mistaken attempt to place blame on a medium instead of
individuals as a previous editorial also attacked websites that provide community news. Readers of printed newspapers or news
websites, like this one, need to form their own opinions regarding the efficacy of the data being presented and the integrity of the
publication. Unfortunately, the Reporter-Herald is again trying to discredit any Internet source of news as not being a genuine
source of valid information -- or was it the Longmont editor making the accusation?
Everything published on LovelandPolitics is original work unless otherwise noted. And no, there is no LongmontPolitics.com
publishing an identical article to this one. So next time we are hoping the "authentic" author (whoever he/she is) who writes the
editorials common to a number of Lehman publications please consider acknowledging their own contribution to a culture of
plagiarism that has mislead their own readers before making general and unsubstantiated attacks against others.
Who wrote the Editorial in today's Loveland Reporter-Herald denouncing the "wild, wild, Web" for creating a culture of
plagiarism? The editorial failed to acknowledge the Reporter-Herald's own role in proliferating fake articles last October when
publishing a "guest commentary" by former Loveland Mayor Gene Pielin (see story from last year) that Pielin never wrote.
Maybe, like Pielins' article, the editor of the Reporter-Herald didn't really write the editorial as the title implies.
Curiously, we don't know who wrote the editorial because an identical editorial was published in Longmont's daily newspaper the
Times-Call today which like the Reporter-Herald is owned by Lehman Communications Corp. The only apparent difference in
the two editorials is the title used over the editorial and which editor is taking credit for writing it. Loveland's Reporter-Herald
editorial denouncing plagiarism did not disclose that it was copied from any other source but instead used the title
"Reporter-Herald Editorial". Ironically, the editorial states, "Permission doesn't make unoriginal thought acceptable"
while passing-off the same editorial in two different "hometown" newspapers as their original Saturday edition editorial.
Ken Amundson, Editor and General Manager of the Loveland Daily Reporter-Herald, could have written the opinion piece
while Longmont's Time-Call has Rob Spencer listed as their "Editorial Page Editor" and John Vahlenkamp listed as the
"Managing Editor" thus leaving their readers to believe either of these two men wrote the editorial. Ed Lehman, the publisher, is
another likely candidate to have written the editorial that appeared in both publications but of course doesn't take credit. Either
way, they are throwing stones from a glass house by attacking all "unoriginal" work as unacceptable through an editorial that two
different publications pretend to have written.
The Reporter Herald's October 2009 "guest commentary" by former Loveland Mayor Pielin was a cynical effort to fool readers
into thinking their mayor, who was endorsed in his campaign by the Reporter-Herald, was on the job and paying close attention
to the benefits of Loveland's public power utility. Instead, Pielin was simply taking credit for an article written thousands of miles
away from Loveland and distributed nationwide by a national public utility lobby. While we believe the deception was likely only
the mayor's and not Amundson's -- we do take note of the fact the Reporter-Herald never ran a correction or apologized to their
readers after the fraud was exposed by LovelandPolitics.
Today's editorial titled "Web Creates Copying Culture" is another mistaken attempt to place blame on a medium instead of
individuals as a previous editorial also attacked websites that provide community news. Readers of printed newspapers or news
websites, like this one, need to form their own opinions regarding the efficacy of the data being presented and the integrity of the
publication. Unfortunately, the Reporter-Herald is again trying to discredit any Internet source of news as not being a genuine
source of valid information -- or was it the Longmont editor making the accusation?
Everything published on LovelandPolitics is original work unless otherwise noted. And no, there is no LongmontPolitics.com
publishing an identical article to this one. So next time we are hoping the "authentic" author (whoever he/she is) who writes the
editorials common to a number of Lehman publications please consider acknowledging their own contribution to a culture of
plagiarism that has mislead their own readers before making general and unsubstantiated attacks against others.
| Longmont Times Call Editorial and the Loveland Reporter-Herald Editorial (both newspapers have a common owner) ran an identical editorial July 17, 2010. "This era of computers and the wild wild Web has given rise to an unacceptable copy-and-paste culture. Free-flowing information benefits society, but availability should not create a free-for-all climate of idea stealing. Unfortunately, though, copying, excessive borrowing and outright plagiarism have spread to many industries." |
| Ken Amundson, Managing Editor of the Loveland Daily Reporter-Herald. |