Remember journalism's rule No. 5 "Be skeptical of everything. If your mother says she loves you, check it out."
Here are three examples where online journalists say they accidentally plagiarized. Their excuse: They thought they copying information from a press release that was sent by a friend.
That's really no excuse.
1. Even if "a friend" sends you information about a potential story, it is up to you to verify that information.
2. Press releases can be wrong. As a journalist, you should verify any and all information, including quotes, contained in the release. Yes, that means re-reporting information in the release.
3. Don't forget attribution, even when using information from a press release. At the bare minimum, attribution, that is telling the reader where you got the information, could save you the embarrassment of being accused of plagiarism.
Click here to read how the Poynter Institute described this series of plagiarism cases. The also are links to the original stories, and the apologies issued by the reporters who made the errors.
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