Martha MacCallum’s on-air questions about plagiarism left a former New York Times editor scrambling for a response.
The Fox News host concluded an interview with Jill Abramson on Wednesday’s “The Story With Martha MacCallum” by bringing up claims that were “just surfacing on Twitter” that portions of her book “could be plagiarized.”
“Vice News Tonight” correspondent Michael Moynihan claimed there were “plagiarized passages” in the book by the former New York Times executive editor. He addressed the issue in a long Twitter thread on Wednesday, offering side-by-side comparisons as proof that Abramson “lifted” passages from other sources to use in her own book, titled “Merchants of Truth.”
The following examples from the final book—not the galley—are only from the Vice chapters (I didn’t check the others). So let’s begin…Here is Abramson on Gavin McInnes (whom she interviewed) and the Ryerson Review of Journalism https://t.co/hx0XcyZ89k pic.twitter.com/qroN59gyVk
— Michael C Moynihan (@mcmoynihan) February 6, 2019
“Michael Moynihan of Vice is writing about this,” MacCallum said to Abramson. “He goes to a section that Jake Malooley wrote in Vice Cop that talks about Jason Mojica and the paragraphs are very similar in your writing. Do you have any comment on this?”
This passage, on former Vice News editor Jason Mojica, is lifted from a 2010 Time Out magazine piece, with small modifications: https://t.co/csNoONZQhX pic.twitter.com/aiQzwKEStl
— Michael C Moynihan (@mcmoynihan) February 6, 2019
“I really, I really don’t, uh…” Abramson attempted to reply.
“You are going to be asked to respond to this at some point,” MacCallum said as she provided Ambramson with some papers to examine.“I put them right in front of you so you have a chance to look at them.”
This paragraph can be sourced to two places: a *masters thesis* and a 2013 New Yorker piece by Lizzie Widdicombe https://t.co/ZWX5RgKxlahttps://t.co/Ux6gdDO9Qg pic.twitter.com/tSIKyRoKDP
— Michael C Moynihan (@mcmoynihan) February 6, 2019
“I certainly didn’t plagiarize in my book,” Abramson asserted. “There are 70 pages of footnotes showing, you know, where I got the information.”
“Do you think this is a footnote issue?” the Fox News host asked after reading an example of nearly identical passages that Moynihan had tweeted.
“No, I don’t think it’s an issue at all,” Ambramson replied.
the very first example I cite isn’t mentioned in the end notes at all, nor is the Time Out one. The others in different spots. Regardless, *even if you cite it deep in the footnotes,* it’s still plagiarism. This is something the former executive editor of NYT should understand https://t.co/nC2o7Xucpw
— Michael C Moynihan (@mcmoynihan) February 7, 2019
“So you are standing by your work 100 percent?” MacCallum asked.
“Yes,” Abramson said.
Among Moynihan’s many tweets, he noted that there was “lesser stuff” than the plagiarism he was pointing to but admitted it was still “problematic.”
There’s lesser stuff too; still problematic. At various points in Merchants of Truth, rather than toil in the archives, reading old issues of the magazine or watching old Vice videos, Abramson liberally borrows from those who have: https://t.co/Ux6gdDO9Qg pic.twitter.com/mEvufhFJ3J
— Michael C Moynihan (@mcmoynihan) February 6, 2019
There’s plenty more–enormous factual errors, other cribbed passages, single or unsourced claims–but this should give a sense.
— Michael C Moynihan (@mcmoynihan) February 6, 2019
“Many people from Vice have been taking issue with the book, it seems,” Abramson noted. “I think they don’t like the portrayal of Vice. although I think it;s a very balanced portrait.”
The former editor took to Twitter herself to say she would be looking into the passages.
I take seriously the issues raised and will review the passages in question
— Jill Abramson (@JillAbramson) February 7, 2019
Statement from Simon & Schuster on Jill Abramson’s book: “If upon further examination changes or attributions are deemed necessary we stand ready to work with the author in making those revisions.” pic.twitter.com/uHnERiyA43
— Max Tani (@maxwelltani) February 7, 2019
Reactions to the accusations and Abramson’s responses immediately hit Twitter.
It really was quite stunning. It seemed that Abramson was not prepped at all for questions on these allegations.
— Oliver Darcy (@oliverdarcy) February 7, 2019
Just now on Fox, @JillAbramson said she hasn’t looked at @mcmoynihan‘s thread yet, but she also said “I certainly didn’t plagiarize in my book.” So she’s denying it — without looking at the charges first.
— Brian Stelter (@brianstelter) February 7, 2019
I saw her interview. She seemed disinterested in the whole conversation & dismissed allegations that she plagiarized anything in her book despite examples shown that may prove otherwise. It was a strange interview.
— Joe Fernandez (@JNFernandez1980) February 7, 2019
this is all explainable. her photographic memory caused her to plagiarize without knowing it pic.twitter.com/yx9RR3g74R
— COINTELBRO (@ReverendZappa) February 7, 2019
>Merchants of Truth
HAHAHAHAHAHAHA
— Smirking Little Trees (@HappyLittleTr11) February 7, 2019
That was hard to watch
— TJ_RunsFar (@TJRunsFar) February 7, 2019
Never thought in my wildest dreams that the former exec editor of NYT would school @Vice on how to do irony. Imagine plagiarizing for a book on ethics – riddled with factual errors – and then calling it “Merchants of Truth”. Hats off to you @JillAbramson!https://t.co/XwTACgOJBo
— Suroosh Alvi (@SurooshAlvi) February 7, 2019
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.
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