Plagiarism

The most blatant of a number of cases of plagiarism I witnessed was in 1969, when as a young correspondent in East Berlin I tried to attend the massed celebrations in the city to mark the 20th anniversary of the founding of the communist state, but was turned away for not having the right accreditation. As I wandered back from the centre I was virtually bowled over by a large running mob of young people, being chased by police. Joining in with them (the youngsters, not the police!), they told me they had gathered near the Berlin Wall after a West German radio station had reported that the Rolling Stones would play on the roof of right-wing press magnate Axel Springer’s building right next to the wall, and were immediately attacked by police. I was the only reporter to have witnessed it, by chance. The next day the story was splashed in the Daily Express under the byline of their Germany correspondent Colin Lawson, based in Bonn. ■