Jim McGrath's review
(here) of "First Job," by Rinker Buck, touched on a question of plagiarism:<p>
He applies for a job, with a revealing shamelessness, brazen sycophancy and fabricated credentials. The portfolio of photographs he submits to the Eagle were taken, Buck says, from a high school friend's work at Pratt Institute. (In a recent interview, with the Eagle no less, he laughs that off with a that's-how-it's-done arrogance.) <p>Darryl McGrath, an Albany writer and journalism teacher (and, yes, Jim's wife) took particular umbrage at Buck's fairly serious ethical lapse. She wrote to his current newspaper, the Hartford Courant, and asked what, if anything, would be done about the revelation. The answer from the Courant's editor and vice president (unidentified in the e-mail), provided by the Courant's ombudsman, Karen Hunter (whom I have met and like), was mostly rhetorical:<p>
I have 2 answers: We didn't know that he faked his way on to the staff of the Eagle when we hired him. 2. Should a youthful indiscretion in gaining a first job carry a lasting penalty? Should it override fine reporting and editing accomplished in the intervening 30 years?<p>Coincidentally, Buck appeared at a book-signing at an Albany-area store Thursday evening. Darryl McGrath was there:<p>
I approached him a few minutes before the reading started, because it was not my intention to ambush him with a "question from the audience" in front of a roomful of people. But, a few early arrivals had already seated themselves and undoubtedly overheard the conversation. <p>I introduced myself, and he told me that the Courant had forwarded to him copies of my e-mails to the Courant editors. ... I told him I found it very disappointing that a successful journalist had gotten his career start by plagiarizing, and then bragged about it in a book. <p>He told me that what he did was "not exactly plagiarism." He must use a different dictionary than I do. On Page 37 of his book, Rinker Buck describes the quandary he found himself in when, well into his application process with the Berkshire Eagle, an editor asked him to provide a portfolio of photographs to back up his claim that he could shoot pictures. Mr. Buck writes of this request:
Excerpt: His demand for 'proof' of my photography skills irritated me, but I knew that I had to satisfy his request.
Done, I said, in the crisp, businesslike tone that I assumed was required for all reporters. "I'll send you some prints right away."
The next day, I called one of my closest friends from high school, John Bermingham, who was just finishing his final year in the photography program at Pratt Institute in Nwe York. Berm sent me a pile of his best photographs. ... Neatly arranging Bermingham's photographs into an attractive portfolio, I wrote "Copyright: Rinker Buck" on the back of each print, typed up a nice note, and sent the pile off to Morton." End of excerpt. <p> If that isn't plagiarism, I'd like to know what is. Especially as Mr. Buck avoids mentioning whether his friend knew that his hard-earned work was about to be passed off as someone else's.
Mr. Buck went on to tell me that I "missed the point" in his recounting this in his book. He explained that when you are presented with a "challenge" (his word) in a job, the important thing is how you respond to that challenge, and he went on to teach himself good photography skills on the job. Thank you, Mr. Buck. I wish you had been around when I was presenting factual resumes in my previous job searches; who knows where I might be today if I had applied your techniques?
I responded that nevertheless, he lied and cheated to get the job, and I thought it set a horrible example for my students at SUNY Albany. Not to mention what it did for the reputation of journalists in general.
He told me that "You're in a minority on that point."
I responded, "Not among ethical journalists." Our conversation ended there, and I left. He was clearly uncomfortable discussing this, and clearly trying to get me the hell out of the room. <p>This is a tough one, and I'm not prepared to pronounce sentence, yet. I think Buck has to shake off the impression that his story was a cute one and confront the serious ethical questions it raises. Once he does that, I might have an opinion.<p>[ November 15, 2002: Message edited by: blanp ]</p>
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