Abstract
Plagiarism isn’t taking lightly when it comes to your education and/or work ethics. Indianapolis Stars, Steve Hall learned this after losing his career as one of the papers top critics. Intentional or unintentional, plagiarism has its major consequences and could be avoided by crediting those who deserved to be credited.
Is It Worth It? : The Effects of Plagiarism
After working for 13 years as one of Indianapolis Monthly’s top television critics, Steve Hall was fired after being accused of plagiarism. According to Bettie Cadou’s article, Words Fail Me (2000), “Hall took his first hit when his supervisors decided his review of the UPN wrestling program closely resembled an article by Dallas Morning News TV critic Ed Bank. Then came the final blow, when an analysis of Hall’s previous stories found another half-dozen pieces, dating to 1997, that were deemed too similar to other writers’ works.” Even though Hall at first claimed it wasn’t intentional, the hirer ups felt that too many of his articles sounded too much alike and they made the decision to release him from his duties.
In the article, You Can Say That Again (2000), also written by Cadou, she gives a number of examples of Hall’s work compared to some articles in Times Magazine; “Times: The show is smart and often funny… Mr. Kilborn delivers this material with the requisite smirks and deadpan charm … he is blond and boyish and perhaps innocent looking … Hall: The show is smart, funny show draws deadpan, ironic punch lines from headlines … (S)mirking host Craig Kilborn .. (is) boyishly handsome, blond and innocent-looking.” And another “Times: It has about it the glib, tinny ring of a college lampoon… precocious but empty… that it does so … has more to do with the futility we all feel lately about our future. Hall: The Daily Show merely mocks current events in a cruelly glib way. In so doing, it only adds to the futility we feel about world events. Laugh now, feel empty later.” The examples provided have the same words, same point, just arranged differently and with few or fewer words thrown into the review. There are more than a half dozen incidences found like this in Halls work, which made it hard to believe that it ‘wasn’t intentional’. Cadou noted that, not to long after his release from the paper, Hall admitted his mistake and apologized.
Hall at first claimed that his work is so similar to the other writers because ‘they all go to the same shows and talk to the same people.’ This could be very true in some cases. I know that when I’m researching a subject for an assignment, I too find it hard to find ways to describe something after reading somebody else’s work on a subject. Somehow their exact words will hit my paper without any intention of “copying” their work. I’d fail to cite the source, therefore I was guilty of plagiarism unintentionally, but in Halls case using the same words to describe someone or something over and over, more than a dozen times, is an obvious case of intentionally plagiarizing. eHow Contributor, Carl Hose defines plagiarism; “Plagiarism is the act of stealing -- whether intentionally or not -- someone else's writing. Any amount of copying what someone else has written, without giving that writer credit for his work, is plagiarism...” “Stealing” other people’s work is unethical. Whether you’re in school, at work, or public speaking, not giving credit to the people who earned it can cost you the career/education that you love and worked so hard for. Being kicked out of school (after years of hard work), given a bad name, and destroying your self-imagine doesn’t seem worth the risk.
There are many ways to avoid plagiarism:
• The obvious, give credit to those who earned it, if you’re using someone else’s work name the source and cite their work.
• Reread your work and make sure it doesn’t sound like you’re just rewording or reversing somebody else’s sentences.
• Never allow somebody else to write your assignments for you.
• Leave yourself enough time to work on an assignment. You don’t want to be so bombarded with work and then at the last minute decide it’d be easier to pay somebody online or a friend to do it for you.
• If you’re unsure ask a professor to reread your work before the final submission.
• Take advantage of writing and researching labs. These show you the proper steps to researching, writing, and citing your sources correctly.
Plagiarism is taken very seriously in the education and business world. You don’t want to take the chance of losing everything you’ve worked so hard for. Like Halls life example, nothing good came from his poor decision to use others work. Accidental or not, in most cases, if caught plagiarizing there are serious consequences. It’s not worth the risk of losing everything you worked so hard for.
References
Cadou, B. (2000). Words Fail Me, Indianapolis Monthly, 23 (6), 78-86. Retrieved from: http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/detail?sid=8ed5d93b-d34d-4518-8758-befddb22fee0%40sessionmgr113&vid=4&hid=17&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=f5h&AN=3374074
Cadou, B. (2000). You Can Say That Again, Indianapolis Monthly. Retrieved from: http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/detail?sid=8ed5d93b-d34d-4518-8758-befddb22fee0%40sessionmgr113&vid=4&hid=17&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d%3d#db=f5h&AN=3374074
Hose, C. (n.d). How to Avoid Plagiarism in A Few Steps, eHow. Retrieved from: http://www.ehow.com/how_5144486_avoid-plagiarism-steps.html
