What is plagiarism?: An example by Michael Kelly of The Irish Catholic

I spotted a post recently about journalists who plagiarise other people's work and pass it off as their own. So I looked up wikipedia and found the working definition as follows:

Plagiarism is the use or close imitation of the language and ideas of another author and representation of them as one's own original work.

In journalism, plagiarism is considered a breach of journalistic ethics, and reporters caught plagiarizing typically face disciplinary measures ranging from suspension to termination.

Journalism
Since journalism's main currency is public trust, a reporter's failure to honestly acknowledge their sources undercuts a newspaper or television news show's integrity and undermines its credibility. Journalists accused of plagiarism are often suspended from their reporting tasks while the charges are being looked into by the news organization.

I was reading a book entitled "Letters to a Young Catholic" by well-known American author George Weigel recently. Chapter two of his book is a fascinating account of the find of the 'trophies' of St Peter in the Roman Basilica under the reign of Pope Pius XI.
On can read this chapter here on google books.
It is pages 19-21 which chime exactly with what I read later in an article by Michael Kelly, a journalist with The Irish Catholic newspaper.
George Weigels book was published in 2004 while Michael Kelly's article, with exactly the same wording was published a year later in The Irish Catholic on February 17, 2005.

[Click for full photo view] The first paragraph, in chapter two of Weigel's book reads:

"Pius XI died on February 10, 1939. Prior to his election as bishop of Rome in 1922, he had ben the archbishop of Milan for a brief period, and the Milanesee wanted to honour his memory by building a fitting resting place for him in St. Peter's Basilica. So funds were raised, artists commissioned, and a magnificent marble sarcophagus, which was to be the centrepiece of a richly decorated mosaic vault, was prepared and sent to Rome. ........"

The first paragraph of Michael Kelly's article has exactly the same wording and continues in that vein for the rest of the article.


For more on this see here.

Speculation that The Irish Catholic is going down the tubes

Another blog once asked if the Irish Catholic newspaper is not just going down the tubes editorially but financially as well.
The print run for the paper when it was last printed by The Limerick Leader had fallen to 17,000. It has a large number of journalists and plethora of say-nothing columists - all of whom need big pay packets. Having a flick through it one can notice it has next to no large ads. This week it had one half page ad - about a meeting organised by the paper itself. It is not getting ad income. It has now been forced to put up its cover price for second time in a few months.

This fall in readership no doubt was because it has turned not just liberal in matters theological, but become a campaign sheet for Lisbon Yes campaign. No wonder as Irish Catholic deputy editor Michael Kelly is an activist in Fianna Fail who canvassed for Seam Ardagh TD for Dublin South Central during the last election, and the paper is governed by a board made up in part of IFA leaders. How could one expect to be independent and objective in this matters?

It is a great pity to watch it go down hill so steadily - it could have been a force for good and building up the faith and reporting on the Church in Ireland. Many friends of mine, who would have been keen readers before, now no longer buy it. With readership, prestige, advertising revenue going down as costs go up - is it only a matter of time before this privately owned company hits the wall. This year might tell us.

Bishops will support Lisbon II claims The Irish Catholic

Michael Kelly, deputy editor of The Irish Catholic, and a Fianna Fail cumann member of Dublin South Central has an unsourced article in this weeks Irish Catholic claiming the Irish bishops will come out in support of Lisbon II.
Not only is unsourced material unworthy of a front page in a respectable newspaper, but it is despicable that a journalist who is a member of a political party should not disclose this to the paper's readership.
They have words to describe this type of journalism: Propaganda could be one, piffle the other.

Bishops to back Lisbon II
Michael Kelly

The Bishops' Conference is set to adopt an unequivocal pro-Lisbon approach to the second referendum on the Lisbon Treaty The Irish Catholic understands.

The Church came in for sharp criticism from politicians after a statement in the run up to the first Lisbon Treaty referendum made very positive statements about the treaty, but, crucially, stopped short of an endorsement.

Now, The Irish Catholic understands that Government assurances on the right to life and other sensitive ethical issues will lead the Bishops' Conference to be clearer in its support.......

 A well-placed Church source confirmed to The Irish Catholic  that in the second Lisbon referendum, due to be held later this year, a stronger statement of support will be issued by a committee of the Bishops' Conference. At this stage it is unclear whether that statement would come from the Standing Committee or the bishops' Committee on Europe.

Another senior figure privately admitted to The Irish Catholic that the inconclusive statement on Lisbon ''may have caused some unnecessary confusion''.

More on Michael Kelly of The Irish Catholic here: