On the News & Record's publishing of plagiarism and lack of response

On the (Greensboro, NC) News & Record's handling (or lack thereof) of the plagiarism it published as a guest column (no link to the N&R column, original letter here) N&R reporter Joe Killian and I had this exchange:

Joe:

I usually follow the Greensboro blogs pretty carefully but because of the rush Friday and then the holiday weekend even I wasn't aware of it until it would have been too late to do anything to prevent it.

I've sent an e-mail to a few of the editors now -- but I think under the circumstances "publishes known plagiarism" suggests that someone in a position to prevent it knew it was plagiarism or at least unattributed and I don't think that's the case here.

Me:

Thanks for the comment, Joe. You might think it is a distinction without a difference, but I did not write, "Knowingly publishes plagiarism." My intention was to convey "publishes what was known, even if not by the N&R, to be plagiarism."

I'll grant you, I loaded that title a bit -- to convey two things: That a piece that did not pass the smell test to this lowly blogger passed undetected through a reporter and a editor at the N&R; and two, to emphasize that if professional newsorgs are to maintain value, one of the most important ways is as adjudicators of accuracy and truthfulness and here, the N&R stumbled -- so asleep in this case, that they not only failed to catch it themselves but remained oblivious (or at least, unresponsive) as it came to light on local blogs.

To-date, it does not appear as if the N&R has addressed or even acknowledged this in print, on its website or on either of the editorial staff blogs.