Recently in the news: school board director Chris Spence plagiarized parts of an article he wrote for the Toronto Star.
Here's what I don't get: if he had to resort to plagiarism, why was he writing a newspaper article in the first place? Unlike students who plagiarize, he didn't have to write an article. It wasn't an assignment. He wouldn't flunk if he didn't do it. Unlike Margaret Wente, it wasn't his job. He has a whole job that, I'm sure, keeps him fully occupied. How did it even occur to him to write an article if he had so little to say that he had to plagiarize?
I'm pretty sure that people have to proactively submit op-eds to newspapers rather than the newspaper soliciting them, so he could have just not done it and no one would have noticed. Even if the paper did solicit an article from him, he could have just said "I'm terribly sorry, but I'm afraid I'm just too busy with my duties as director of TDSB to write an article. However, I'd be happy to give an interview."
So why did he do it?
5 comments:
I thought the typical reason for plagiarizing was wanting to say something but lacking confidence or skills or being unwilling to spend the time required to say it in one's own words. Or liking the way someone else says it and assuming/hoping/gambling that no one will notice.
Plagiarism in professional, non-academic settings pops up on a regular basis, no? Less than frequently, but more than rarely.
I'm having trouble reconciling the lacking confidence or skills or being unwilling to spend the time with volunteering to write a newspaper article. I lack the confidence and skills and am unwilling to spend the time to learn to drive. So I just don't.
Some people who lack those things are heavily invested in others thinking they can do something they can't, or are someone they are not. They want the credit for the story without doing the work.
I've always been fascinated with serial plagiarists, people who fake identities and backgrounds, like Stephen Glass. I wonder if they are thrill-seekers of a sort, thriving on the tension of being exposed.
That's so bizarre, it's such a public risk. That's like streaking across a sports field and hoping no one will see you.
I think the public risk must be part of the thrill. I wish I could know their thought processes, because they fascinate me.
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