Katie Couric essay found plagiarized; CBS producer fired

Associated Press ^ | April 11, 2007

[BradtotheBone]

NEW YORK — A CBS News producer was fired and the network apologized after a Katie Couric video essay on libraries was found to be plagiarized from the Wall Street Journal.

The essay was removed from the CBS Web site and an editor's note was posted saying the item should have credited Jeffrey Zaslow of the Journal, the network said Tuesday.

The essays are carried regularly on Couric & Co., the anchor's blog on the CBS News Web site. Couric and producers meet once a week to decide on topics and the producers write them for Couric to read on camera.

An editor for the Wall Street Journal called CBS News to point out the similarities of the April 4 notebook item to Zaslow's article, headlined "Of the Places You'll Go, Is the Library Still One of Them?" The pieces talk about how libraries are seen differently by children from their parents.

"We were horrified," CBS News spokeswoman Sandra Genelius said. "It was almost verbatim."

CBS would not identify the producer fired for the transgression.

[3AngelaD]

She can’t write her own stuff, and she can’t even hire someone to write her stuff for her with plagarizing.

[RedCell]

Shocked, I tell you... Shocked! /s

[P-40]

Fake...but accurate. :)

[Toggameid]

[rabscuttle385]

I wonder if that’s how she got through U.Va., because here we have that sort of action would have gotten Katie expelled.

[johnny7]

"It was almost verbatim."

Exceptionally odious...

[mainepatsfan]

So Katie is in third place and is now involved in a plagiarism scandal. Hell they could have saved money by just hanging on to Rather.

[bicyclerepair]

Will we hear about this in the conventional media?.... Don’t hold your breath.

[nuconvert]

Probably figured it was a safe gamble since no one was reading the website anyway

[delphirogatio]

And, today in the “Can’t Win for Losing File....”

[Wally_Kalbacken]

Couric and producers meet once a week to decide on topics and the producers write them for Couric to read on camera.

Jeez. $15M/year and an as yet (12:09 pm EDST) unrealized golden parachute and she doesn't do anything but read on camera....

[ClearCase_guy]

Hell they could have saved money by just hanging on to Rather.

Think how much they could have saved by hiring me! I could get them into third place for a lot less.

[ZULU]

She was “perky”.

[Hegemony Cricket]

HEY! I’ve seen some of your witty and pithy comments. I’m guessing you could have propelled CBS to 2nd place, at least! :-)

[hgro]

Another Ha Ha for the reputed MSM. The licenses of SeeBS, N-BS A-BS should be pulled.

[Redcloak]

She has “people” to do her plagiarizing?

[rabscuttle385]

Yet more proof that the Honor Code here at the University is worthless.

[Tulsa Ramjet]

“Courage.”

[Mad_Tom_Rackham]

Couric spends more time putting on makeup than reviewing her work.