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Bob McPhail

Bob McPhail is a Reader contributor. See staff page for published articles.

Welfare Demanded

"Plagiarize" means to pass off someone else's work as your own. In this instance, the writer identifies his source clearly -- and I seriously doubt he took whole passages from Frontera and claimed them as his own. Besides, have you taken a look at other newspapers, television news or the press services lately? How many times have you seen, "The New York Times reported," or "The Wall Street Journal reported," Just this week there was a widely re-distributed item from the AP on the dubious validity of the White House's claims about jobs saved or created by the "stimulus." Back in the day, when there was more than one major national news service, almost all news services had a "rewrite desk," where, basically, stories from all the major newspapers in a bureau's service area were, well, rewritten -- sometimes with, sometimes without attribution. So what you are seeing here is not even close to plagiarism -- and hardly a deviation from acceptable journalistic practices. Of course, originally sourced reporting is preferred, but it would certainly limit the flow of information. Just imagine if only percipient witnesses were allowed to do crime reporting. No more "according to police reports." No more news from CHP on traffic accidents. No more secondhand reports on trial results from the DA. The standard you suggest would strangle the flow of important news to readers. Again, it's always better "if you were there" when it comes to reporting. But it is not always possible and, as a standard, it's very unrealistic. One reason sources are provided, by the way, is so you can determine for yourself their credibility. I agree with refried -- better some news in the Reader about Baja, even if secondhand, than nothing at all. Look at all the comments these Baja stories generate. Certainly that give-and-take is valuable and allows for correction or clarification -- something refried has done often on stories here.
— October 31, 2009 8:28 p.m.

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4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
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