Plagiarism

The change in policy is welcome if overdue [On giving credit where it is due]. The fundamental issue is the integrity of the reporter and editor, but the details of the current policy and The Guardian’s reaction suggest Reuters could be firmer in both the language and enforcement of media contracts. I recall a Tony Williams exclusive gracing the front page of the Telegraph under a staff reporter’s byline, and a sophisticated analysis from Reuters-Latam played at length in the Financial Times under the name of the paper’s correspondent. He had contributed precisely one sentence, which merely changed the word order of the original a bit. My attempts to protest in those cases came to nothing, though. We lacked a route internally to channel such complaints contractually. Now, with the Internet’s help in embarrassing the paper, change seems possible. The power of the (non-)press!  ■