A Hoot editorial
The Internet is an effective place to nail plagiarism and put out word of it at the speed of light. Over the last fortnight news has slowly been spreading that a blog called Jabberwock has reproduced tell-tale paragraphs from Times of India film critic Nikhat Kazmi’s review of the film Shark Tale. The paras have been tracked down to a review of the same film in the Chicago Sun Times by Roger Ebert. Kazmi meanwhile has been in
Kazmi also happens to be editor of Delhi Times, a full time job given the inordinate interest that proprietor Vineet Jain takes in this publication. (DT is that infamous Times creation which started putting its front page columns on sale.) Given the difficulty of watching films at a stretch while having other full time editorial responsibilities, it is possible that plagiarism was a way of coping. This past week for instance she has been in
Television critics too in some of the leading newspapers in
As the volume of media grows, media tracking has to become a full time responsibility, ethically discharged, with proper salaries and designations. And senior journalists must be discouraged from trying to be critics on the side while having other assignments and designations. This is not to make excuses for plagiarism. Only to underline that in this case it might have been the outcome of an unsatisfactory professional trend.