Plagiarism

In 1969-1970, Israel and Egypt were engaged in a “War of Attrition” along the Suez Canal. The Tel Aviv bureau where I was a local reporter was putting out up to ten or eleven long nightleads a day, sidebars, etc, all topped with urgents, as the two sides slugged it out with aerial dogfights, artillery bombardments, commando raids, etc.

It was a major world story and an increasing number of journalists were pouring in from round the world, expecting the official ceasefire which followed the 1967 Six-Days War to break down entirely.

Covering the hostilities was not easy because neither side announced in advance when there would be fighting and the Israeli army did not allow journalists to go unescorted to the canal, which was six hours driving time away, etc.

Pretty soon, the correspondents were also attracted by the beach life of Tel Aviv by day and the excitement of night clubs and restaurants in the evening, and this at a time when there existed veritable young lady “groupies” who flocked round the foreign press.

These correspondents often filed their copy through Reuters, arriving in the evening with their stories which they gave to our teleprinter operators to file.

Very often, they would also ask if they could “cast an eye at what you guys have written” which would save them time they could otherwise spend with their girlfriends outside.

I remember a very famous reporter from one of America’s best known newspapers who once came in very late, read our outgoing file, sat down at a typewriter and wrote a single lead paragraph (not forgetting his byline) which he gave to our teleprinter operator.

After the lead paragraph, there were the words: “Please pick up Reuters as required for the rest.” ■